Ahoy there, ye scurvy dogs! Gather 'round, for I have a tale that'll send shivers down yer timbers! I be seekin' brave souls, four in number, to join me crew on a daring adventure across the treacherous seas of Sasserine. There be mysteries aplenty, and the Savage Tide awaits those with the mettle to face it.
If ye be yearnin' for personal glory, thirstin' for honor, or simply lusting after the glitterin' promise of gold, then this be the voyage for ye! We'll sail through uncharted waters, face monstrous sea beasts, and uncover secrets buried deep in the heart of the ocean.
Bring yer swords, yer wits, and a hearty appetite for adventure! If ye be up to the challenge, leave a mark in the comments below, and we'll set sail together on a journey that'll be sung about in taverns for generations to come! Arrr, who among ye dares to join me crew and seek the treasures of the Savage Tide?
I'm already running two completely homebrew games of different colors and flavors, I wanted to run amodule and I was torn between this one and Temple of Elemental Evil. But to be honest, the Temple is a very flawed module with a really good start that then dissolves into a grind of a dungeon crawl. So I'm running this, which is what I'm running with my in person group.
Spoiler: Disclaimer
Show
I'm very candid about my style of DMing and my expectations: I want people who want to build a collective story and have fun, I don't like indestructible PCs, and I don't like arguing with players on RAW and stuff. I run the game trying to offer a fun game, please respect the effort put in this.
Interested?:
I'm accepting interest through this week. Read the big 16 to see if you are buying what I'm selling. Roll for abilities and give me a general concept pitch. This next saturday I'll make a shortlist of concepts I like (these may include some mechanics but I'm not really going to look into it much) and then give you a week to develop them.
Spoiler: Big 16
Show
1. What are we playing?
Savage tides. DND 3.5.
2. What setting?
Published Adventure path.
The Free City of Sasserine, North of Cauldron. Greyhawk, but I'm open to touches of Forgotten realms and Ravenloft.
4. How large of a crew are you looking for and where will we play?
I'm looking for 4 and only 4, I don't believe in larger groups in PbP
5. What level?
Lvl 3, milestone system.
6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?
No of course not, 1500 gp. Alternatively. you can trade 1/3 of your wealth for something cool. But only after character selection.
7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes?
This is 3.5. In general, all classes from allowed sources are allowed. But I'll chose those I feel are thematic to the premise. Also, see the Homebrew section.
8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species?
Races in the allowed sources, be sure to read those before asking questions.
9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points?
Roll [roll]3d6b2+6[/rolllll] x6, order them, that's it. I don't like point buy.
Max HP at first level, then roll. No averages (however see homebrew).
10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so?
Run any alignment you want, but roleplay it and roleplay within the group. Fair warning: evil characters and chaotic stupid will likely die fast and painfully or simply not be selected, but you can build your character as you want.
11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it?
Since we are using milestone there are no multiclassing penalties, but I'll cap MC at two classes, no dips on prestige classes. You go in, you stay the full run.
12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them?
Roll in the IC in a spoiler by declaring your actions. read the homebrew rules please.
13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about? If so, list and explain them, or provide relevant links to learn about these new rules.
Changes to classes
Rangers get full progression on Animal Companion they also apply their FE bonus as an Insight bonus to attack (the bonus to damage remains untyped)
Druid's get the ranger's progression on animal companion.
Fighters and Barbarians get unarmed fighting and do 1d6.
Monks get good BAB
Paladins's spells are based on Charisma, their Smite evil ability works for a full round and it is usable 1/encounter instead of 1/day.
Hexblades can use their hex at will, they don't get spells, instead they gain Martial Maneuvers as a Swordsage-1: they can pick from Shadowhand, Diamond Mind, Iron Heart, Setting Sun, and White Raven.
All classes with a d4 hp get d6 instead, and classes with a d6 get d8 instead.
All classes get +2 skill points per level.
Tier 1 classes do not need anything nice, so no SAD archivists, etc.
Feats and stuff:
One flaw, one extra feat. No traits. Flaws are a few of the materials allowed from Dragon Magazine.
Feats every odd level (1,3,5,7) If your would benefit more from a feat at lv 6, I'm sorry, take it at lvl 7.
No double stat to any roll even if it's from different sources: i.e. Charisma as Deflection Bonus and Charisma as Dodge bonus do not stack.
I'll type any untyped bonuses (Except the Barbarian's rage and the ranger's FE).
Feats from PF: Vital Strike (and the line of).
Weapon finesse adds Dex to damage.
Bows add Dex to damage, crossbows still need a feat.
Dodge gives you a +2 dodge bonus to AC and Ref Saves.
Iron Will, Great Fortitude, Lightning Reflexes, instead give you GOOD Save progression.
Combat reflexes grants 2 extra AoO no more, AoO builds are horrible in PbP, so are grapplers.
However, grappling as a concept is cool and fixing it is a mess unless we use 5ed or CMD and I don't want to go there. Just be advised.
I like combat fast and bloody so:
Natural 20 crits do not need confirmation, other threats do.
A full-attack is a Standard action, max attacks are capped at 6 REGARDLESS of the combination or any ability, max is 6, apply penalties to iteratives as usual.
You can split your movement before and after your standard action, movement provokes AoO as usual.
You can't use Aid another for an attack, that's literally what flanking is for.
You can't have more than an extra standard action per round under any circumstances. i.e Factotum + belt of battle.
14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)?
See the other spoiler
15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?
It is a published path that goes up to lvl 20, a bit of everything, more hack and slash. Not so many puzzles, I expect good role playing from everyone, that is essential. I have run this twice in person, I abbreviate a lot and remove most of the random encounters.
16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters?
Auto accepted: PH I and II, Spell Compendium, The Complete Series, ToM (no true namers), MoI, Stormwrack, Tome of Blade, Psionics, city scape.
There will be zero transparency with magic and psionics. Assume that I'm not limited to those sources and may use stuff from PF for NPCs and monsters.
I don't usually ban stuff, I simply don't pick characters I don't like, that said, the only allowed materials from Dragon Magazine are Battle Dancer, Mystic Ranger, the above mentioned flaws and stuff related to Sasserine and the adventure. Please don't ask.
16+. Any banned stuff?
See above
Spoiler: My quick companion guide on Sasserine as I run it
Show
Sasserine was a We Jas Cleric who sacrificed herself to save the life of her lover, Teraknian. Teraknian built a castle as a shrine to his lover and founded the city in her name 700 years ago. It is perched in a safe harbor between two enormous cliffs and prospered as one of the safest ports in the Amedo Region, a subtropical jungle area along the south coast of the Azure Sea: the Jeklea Bay, to the west a large and almost impenetrable line of innactive volcanoes separate the bay from the Dust lands of the old Suel Empire.
For 200 years it prospered under Teraknian and his Descendants with strong ties to Suel, the Church of Wee Jas, and the church of Kord. Then 500 years ago, Orren Teraknian tried to rule as an enlightened absolute ruler and abolished many of the social institutions and religions, his kingdom was long and he had two successors who were highly popular among the destitute. Tat regime lasted until the noble families allied with the Sea Princes under false promises. The Sea Princes seized control, taking the children of the Sasserian elite as hostages, and ruled Sasserine for almost 200 years, isolating it from the main continent and even from the neighboring city of cauldron. This period meant the Sasserine elite had to spent their youth amongst the refined but bizarre Sea Princes in their strongholds in the Flannaes.
Then twenty years ago, the Scarlett Brotherhood, some nasty pirates they are, waged war against the Sea Princes and assassinated most of them. And some of the Sasserinian nobles still in their hold. The people of Sasserine did the rest and liberated the city. For the Past 20 years of so, the powerful families of the city have ruled as a council: The Dawn Council. But this oligarchy is tenuous, subject to treason and porous to crime and parallel powers and always under the threat of the Bullywug tribes to the east and the constant pressure of the Scarlett Brotherhood raids.
Rich families are an old aristocracy, most of them came with Teraknian or shortly after. They have plantations and ships, mainly using indenture servants and cheap labor, slavery was abolished by Orren Teraknian. The main exports are agricultural commodities like coffee and hemp that grows in the volcanic lands to the west of the city, exotic animals and furs.
The law forbids murder, theft and other strong offenses and is severe and swift, often death penalties, for those without connections or influence. But it is very relaxed about minor crimes and misdemeanors and has a bustling underworld. Reason why Sasserine has become attractive for all kinds of people looking to make fortune.
Since the ancient families came from Suel, Wee Jass has some faithful followers, so does Kord, but since the times of Orren Teraknian, the most popular god is Illmater (I know is not Greyhawk, but there's no equivalent), and due to the influence of the Sea Princes, there's also a strong following of other Flanaes deities.
You may be from Sasserine, maybe loosely connected to one of the big families, or you could have just arrived looking to make a name for yourselves.
If you are from the city, then you are most likely Human and if from a noble family most likely you are of Suel origin, dark haired and handsome. There's some tolerance to a few civilized Bullywugs, and the western plantations employ nomadic halflings that do seasonal work, there are a few dwarves from Cauldron.
If you are from any other race the, then you probably arrived recently and will not find many that look like you.
Aurangh's Savage Tide OG CLOSED TO NEW INTEREST
Reply With Quote