AssociateGreen
2022-01-28, 11:33 AM
Seeing as I have about every direction my current playgroup can go in planned out, I started working on a new 3.5 game. Even though I haven't played/ran a 3.5 campaign in years, I still think it's the best system to cherry-pick from all the books to make a really flavorful environment.
So, I was inspired by a suitably evocative setting summary in an excellent OSR module to begin working on this project:
These are the last tales of humankind. It is an age of great wonder and dying sorcery. The world writhes and spasms in the aftermath of the wars of ages past. Magic itself is now a tattered thing, twisted for millennia into shapes ever more complex. It heaves and quakes under the strain, bringing mutation and madness to lands barren with generations of brutal conflict. The corpses of Gods, shattered and broken, drift and coalesce within the Tempest or lie pristine upon the hot sand, untouched by the ages. Great spires, like jagged teeth, stand amidst the savaged lands, their inhabitants warring ceaselessly for the magical energy that sustains their precious viaticum cabinets. For miles around these cities, the essence of life is leeched from the very air to sustain their endless struggle till the world itself is ruin and bloated, red Sol goes dark. Creatures terrible and bizarre, nightmare soldiers from the unfathomable wars of aeons past, walk the wastes baying for blood and souls.
It's got a sort of worn-out epic feel, which I decided would be good for E6 (or at least after I started playing around with the concept and decided an actual epic setting would take far more work than I had time for). So, I settled on E6.
I tweaked the setting summary a bit to give it the feel that it's sort of like a grim, near-apocalyptic Tippyverse. Like in old Science-Fiction/Fantasy novels where people are surrounded with barely understood machines sustaining them and praying they don't break beyond their ability to fix. I guess, a lot like Warhammer 40k, actually. Either way, there can be an underlying mystery of what now prevents people from reaching the lofty levels from ages past.
I've given the following lists a lot of thought balance-wise (like, I know very few classes end up with access to dispel magic, and like there's only one class with full BAB), but I want to know if anyone spots anything glaring I might have missed. I'm imagining a fairly deadly world for adventurers, be it in the wilderness or the cities, where the ability to avoid violence maybe even more important than the ability to perform violence. Where ancient traps, diseases, and curses are a constant threat.
Azurin
Buomman
Catfolk
Changeling
Earth Dwarf
Elan
Goliath
Halfling, Ghostwise
Halfling, Tallfellow
Illumian
Mongrelfolk
Neanderthal
Silverbrow Human
Tiefling, Lesser
Warforged
Barbarian
Binder
Dragonfire Adept
Healer
Incarnate
Lurk
Rogue
Shadowcaster
Swordsage
Warlock
Warmage
NPCs: Adept, Aristocrat, Commoner, Expert, Magewright, Warrior
Ardent Dilettante
Assassin
Beastmaster
Elocator
Halfling Outrider
Hoardstealer
Initiate of the Draconic Mysteries
Jordain Vizier
Master of Masks
Master of Shadow
Night Mask Deathbringer
Shadowmind
Spymaster
Thief-Acrobat
The last thing to note would be I'd go with the standard E6 32-point buy with 25-point buy + no LA for Catfolk/Goliath.
It's my thinking everyone would also get a free regional feat at 1st level associated with whatever spire-city they want to be from. Though I haven't gotten around to making such a list up yet I know it will include some of the classics like Education, Militia, Magical Training, and maybe Fearless for something like a generic "wilderness" region.
Also, I'd be using Level-based Skills from the UA + Skill Knowledge feat which was a decision I made during my last 3.5 campaign and I honestly should have been doing it loooong before that.
So, I was inspired by a suitably evocative setting summary in an excellent OSR module to begin working on this project:
These are the last tales of humankind. It is an age of great wonder and dying sorcery. The world writhes and spasms in the aftermath of the wars of ages past. Magic itself is now a tattered thing, twisted for millennia into shapes ever more complex. It heaves and quakes under the strain, bringing mutation and madness to lands barren with generations of brutal conflict. The corpses of Gods, shattered and broken, drift and coalesce within the Tempest or lie pristine upon the hot sand, untouched by the ages. Great spires, like jagged teeth, stand amidst the savaged lands, their inhabitants warring ceaselessly for the magical energy that sustains their precious viaticum cabinets. For miles around these cities, the essence of life is leeched from the very air to sustain their endless struggle till the world itself is ruin and bloated, red Sol goes dark. Creatures terrible and bizarre, nightmare soldiers from the unfathomable wars of aeons past, walk the wastes baying for blood and souls.
It's got a sort of worn-out epic feel, which I decided would be good for E6 (or at least after I started playing around with the concept and decided an actual epic setting would take far more work than I had time for). So, I settled on E6.
I tweaked the setting summary a bit to give it the feel that it's sort of like a grim, near-apocalyptic Tippyverse. Like in old Science-Fiction/Fantasy novels where people are surrounded with barely understood machines sustaining them and praying they don't break beyond their ability to fix. I guess, a lot like Warhammer 40k, actually. Either way, there can be an underlying mystery of what now prevents people from reaching the lofty levels from ages past.
I've given the following lists a lot of thought balance-wise (like, I know very few classes end up with access to dispel magic, and like there's only one class with full BAB), but I want to know if anyone spots anything glaring I might have missed. I'm imagining a fairly deadly world for adventurers, be it in the wilderness or the cities, where the ability to avoid violence maybe even more important than the ability to perform violence. Where ancient traps, diseases, and curses are a constant threat.
Azurin
Buomman
Catfolk
Changeling
Earth Dwarf
Elan
Goliath
Halfling, Ghostwise
Halfling, Tallfellow
Illumian
Mongrelfolk
Neanderthal
Silverbrow Human
Tiefling, Lesser
Warforged
Barbarian
Binder
Dragonfire Adept
Healer
Incarnate
Lurk
Rogue
Shadowcaster
Swordsage
Warlock
Warmage
NPCs: Adept, Aristocrat, Commoner, Expert, Magewright, Warrior
Ardent Dilettante
Assassin
Beastmaster
Elocator
Halfling Outrider
Hoardstealer
Initiate of the Draconic Mysteries
Jordain Vizier
Master of Masks
Master of Shadow
Night Mask Deathbringer
Shadowmind
Spymaster
Thief-Acrobat
The last thing to note would be I'd go with the standard E6 32-point buy with 25-point buy + no LA for Catfolk/Goliath.
It's my thinking everyone would also get a free regional feat at 1st level associated with whatever spire-city they want to be from. Though I haven't gotten around to making such a list up yet I know it will include some of the classics like Education, Militia, Magical Training, and maybe Fearless for something like a generic "wilderness" region.
Also, I'd be using Level-based Skills from the UA + Skill Knowledge feat which was a decision I made during my last 3.5 campaign and I honestly should have been doing it loooong before that.