My First Homebrew

[Nad]

Hi all,

Since Wizards announced 4th edition and described the kind of world they were engineering it for (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drdd/20070829a) I started thinking that Greyhawk was maybe a little too civilized for my players. They recently completed the Temple of Elemental Evil (original converted to 3.5) at 10th level and are looking for something new. Fueled on by watching the entire season of Firefly and the movie Serenity over vacation I began to think about what kind of a campaign world I wanted to make. Here are a few things I've decided so far:

Post Apocalyptic - The world was advanced, think large cities and powerful magic not technology. Something happened and changed the way of life.

Wild West/Pioneer - I want the towns to be self sufficient and feudal but a little mix of civilization survived. The clothes, style and technology level will be set at an EARLY Wild West/Pioneer level. No electricity, no steam power, gunpowder etc. Still normal D&D, just a different environment. I like the idea of life being hard and the people having to rely on each other. Think of random encounters as half D&D/half Oregon Trail (Your magic missle kills the buffalo and you get 873lbs of meat. You can only take 200lbs of meat back to the wagon)

Bronze Age - Technology was virtually wiped out. It's not that people don't know that there's better but the infrastructure has been wiped out. Bronze is used amongst most communities. Iron is rare and steel is almost unheard of. I'm thinking a very similar tech/magic level to Dark Sun. I especially like the idea of incorporating magical fruits as potions.

My two major house rules:

1. Wizard bonus spells

Let's face it, at low levels, Wizards suck. They get at the most, 2 spells and after you "blow your load" then you have to sit there and pretend you can use ranged weapons or hide.

House rule - bonus spells are equivalent to your Int modifier divided by your spell level, rounding down. Again, this is for Wizards only.

Example: 1st level spells, Wizard 18 Int = +4 Int bonus / 1 = 4. So that's 4 bonus spells. A Wizard starts with 5, 1st level spells, doesn't seem outrageous. For 2nd level spells, +4 / 2 = 2 so that's two bonus spells. And finally, 4 / 3 = 1.3, so 1 bonus spell. Essentially this house rule will make Wizards a little more attractive.

2. Divine spells do not require memorization

All divine spell casters can choose what they want to cast when the moment strikes. I don't like the idea of memorizing a prayer and forgetting it (I was raised Catholic, probably what caused this) and like the idea of a divine caster praying for something on the spur of the moment. This makes divine spell casters more flexible and utility like and basically makes them more than heal bots for dungeon crawls.


What I'd really appreciate from all of you is feedback, advice, links to tools or existing information etc. The person who helps me find a d20 list of Wild West style clothes/gear wins a cyber hug. If it is converted to GP, then I think I'll just ask you where this campaign already exists.

Thanks for reading all!

[AKA_Bait]

My two major house rules:

1. Wizard bonus spells

Let's face it, at low levels, Wizards suck. They get at the most, 2 spells and after you "blow your load" then you have to sit there and pretend you can use ranged weapons or hide.

House rule - bonus spells are equivalent to your Int modifier divided by your spell level, rounding down. Again, this is for Wizards only.


Example: 1st level spells, Wizard 18 Int = +4 Int bonus / 1 = 4. So that's 4 bonus spells. A Wizard starts with 5, 1st level spells, doesn't seem outrageous. For 2nd level spells, +4 / 2 = 2 so that's two bonus spells. And finally, 4 / 3 = 1.3, so 1 bonus spell. Essentially this house rule will make Wizards a little more attractive.


Humm. I would advise against this house rule for a few reasons. The main one being, wizards are already plenty attractive and don't need any help. They have the widest range of choice in what spells they have access to among all arcane casters and get higher levels spells before their sorcerous counterparts.
The secondary one is perhaps meanspirited of me but still valid, I think. Wizards at low levels suck. Yep. And that's because they are supposed to. Wizards at high levels own. To get to the uberpowerful coolness, ya gotta suffer first.



2. Divine spells do not require memorization

All divine spell casters can choose what they want to cast when the moment strikes. I don't like the idea of memorizing a prayer and forgetting it (I was raised Catholic, probably what caused this) and like the idea of a divine caster praying for something on the spur of the moment. This makes divine spell casters more flexible and utility like and basically makes them more than heal bots for dungeon crawls.


I strongly advise against this unless you plan to use the Spontaneous Divine Casters (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/spontaneousDivineCasters.htm)variant or similar things. There are literally hundreds of divine spells out there. Allowing your players to use any one of them at any time so long as they have some spell slots will make formerly prepared divine casters way, way overpowered at any level.

[Satyr]

The settings idea sounds like fun, but I would strongly recommend against any house rule that benefits spellcasters. They are normally strong enough.

[The Neoclassic]

Ditto on the spellcasters.

Regardless, your setting looks like it will have a unique flavor. Have you decided on races, classes, climate, religion, or other such factors, or would you like some help in choosing those?

[EvilElitest]

Hey, i was just writting a game just like this, cool

But don't bump up caster power, they are already to great
from,
EE

[Nad]

Thank you all for the feedback. In response to the spellcasters being overpowered, you raise valid concerns but I have no interest in making my Wizard "suffer" and cast two magic missiles and then feel useless. With 5 spells, I think my players would be inclined to memorize an alarm, a hold portal, mage armor and two magic missiles. I like that idea opposed to giving them a wand of ray of frost with 50 charges to make 1st level a little less boring. Another note is that my campaigns progress slowly and 10th level is "high level" for these players.

In regard to spontaneous divine spell casting, yes it can be overpowered and honestly a bit annoying as each player thumbs through three books looking for that "perfect" spell. I do not however like the idea of the divine casters sacrificing spells of a higher level for a lower level healing spell. So how about a compromise? Which is better:

1. Divine casters can cast any healing spell spontaneously. All other spells must be memorized.

2. Divine casters can cast any spell from their domains spontaneously. All other spells must be memorized.

I appreciate all of your help and feedback fine tuning these house rules.



Regardless, your setting looks like it will have a unique flavor. Have you decided on races, classes, climate, religion, or other such factors, or would you like some help in choosing those?

I'm going to use normal PHB races. The world is highly populated by humans and inter-racial communities died long ago. The post-apocalyptic communities are xenophobic, superstitious and paranoid. I expect the PCs will be a mix but I'll try and discourage half-elves without an amazing backstory.

Wild Elves are going to fit into the Wild West role of Indians. I'd like to have them be a possible ally or enemy and tribes.

Gnomes and Dwarves I was mainly going to put in underground cities far away from human settlements. Basically for the start of the campaign - yes they're there but the PCs wouldn't have any interaction with them. If a PC chooses to be one, they again need a good backstory why they're out and about. Also of note, these two civilizations were the least affected by the world wide disaster.

Halflings - Using the 3.5 description then giving them the LOTR lifestyle. Simple farmers who enjoy simple things. Out of all races, Humans and Halflings trade and associate the most. A halfling would be tolerated in a human town but wouldn't live there.


The climate would be rough. I'm thinking wasteland/desert for a majority of the map to start with. The world is big and has lush forests somewhere but not here.

Here is an open plain, lots of tumbleweeds, dead trees and a ghost towns of old. The roads between villages are rarely traveled and when they are it is in force to avoid bandits and monsters.

Communities are built around sources of water from which irrigation flows to support crops and minor livestock. This limits the community size highly, which is a goal of this campaign setting. Finding a town of more than 1,000 isn't going to be something that happens for a while.

For religion I'm going to use the PHB Greyhawk gods. Religion has failed many and church structure is non-existent outside of the single community. Most communities will have a deity regarding protection/safety and an adept to guide them.

On a side note, PCs are going to be extremely rare.

I'm going to avoid any plots and simply try and offer adventure hooks and problems in each community. I want to mix traditional D&D and Wild West ideas. Here's the one solid idea I've got:

3rd level: Paid to scout out a new source of water that can support 500+ people because the town is getting too large
4th level: Building a fort and clearing that area of monsters
5th level: Escort a wagon train of settlers to the fort to establish a new town - I'm thinking Oregon Trail meets Random Encounters


Create Water is going to be changed to Create Element and have the Dark Sun rules applied. I'll probably allow access to the 3.5 Dark Sun spells too (www.athas.org)

Also in Dark Sun are preservers/restorers and defilers. They take life/preserve from plants to use magic since it's a god dead world - not going to do that.

However, I like that in Dark Sun magic is outlawed and casters can't flaunt what they do. I think with the xenophobia, superstition and paranoia of the towns the campaign is starting in, arcane magic may be seen as witchcraft.

Magic will probably be outlawed and have to be an underground practice. This is something to consider when making a wizard as access to spells is going to be very limited. Not to say that there aren't caches out there from the "old times" when many powerful wizards existed.

Also, unless their backstory gives me a good reason, their knowledge is going to be limited to just the starting town. Think 700 people, a few tradesman, mostly farmers, possibly a low level PC of whichever class they choose. Again think Wild West - most townspeople are uneducated and cant read but act like gentlemen and ladies regardless. Those who do have an education often speak two languages (English and Latin turns into Common and Celestial) and have a sense of honor and proper behavior.

I'm still having a little trouble thinking of a wizard in a ten gallon hat instead of the traditional wizard cone hat :smallsmile:

[Umarth]

So how about a compromise? Which is better:

1. Divine casters can cast any healing spell spontaneously. All other spells must be memorized.

2. Divine casters can cast any spell from their domains spontaneously. All other spells must be memorized.

I appreciate all of your help and feedback fine tuning these house rules.


1) Clerics can already do this and druids can do something similar with the PHB2 variant. (give up spontaneous Summon Natures Ally for a rejuvenation ability).

2) There are feats that let casters with domains do this already.

I'd say just make sure your players are aware of the variants and the feats and stick to the current rules.

[Triaxx]

I like the idea.

Wizards, I have found do tend to become useless. To counter this, I gave them a slight combat advantage. When a wizard has expended all memorized spells, I give them a +2 bonus to hit with ranged weapons. The Elven wizards love it, and it keeps them from attacking and missing uselessly.

Clerics, you might consider a lower magic variant, or use Druids. (How do druids work?) Otherwise, remember that Clerics can stomp into battle in full plate armor, and still unleash complete hellfire on the opponents. Or just give them numbers of castings equal to the normal slots.

[Nad]

Or just give them numbers of castings equal to the normal slots.

Wow, looking back on that I can see that it may have come off incorrectly.

When I refer to spontaneous casting, I don't mean you can just cast, cast, cast, just that you don't have to pick your spells.

What I meant was clerics can cast any spell w/o memorizing but only their limit of daily spells. You can ask your god for a lot of things but you're only going to get so many. So normal spells per day, per the PHB.