[Interest Check][PF1e] Dragonspear Depths - a megadungeon in the FR

[GameMaster_Phil]

Interest Check: Dragonspear Depths

It is the late first month of 1375 DR, the Year of Risen Elfkin.
The lands of Northwestern Faerûn are in turmoil. The Zentharim from the Moonsea and the Shadovar from the City of Shade had allied in 1372 and, aided by a group of powerful villains, begun a war of conquest. The Zentharim War saw the city-states of the Moonsea brought under Zentharim, and therefore Banite, rule. Sembia fell to the Shadovar, the Dalelands and parts of Cormyr to the newly minted Zentilar Empire.

The Zentilar Empire, or Black Hand Empire, peacefully brought Unther under their control as a protectorate after coming to aid the Untherans during the Mulhorandi-Untheric war of annexation. In exchange for protection, Unther agreed to replace their dead gods with Bane as a state religion.

The Zentilar advance went unchecked for almost two years until two pivotal events: The Siege of Arabel and the Dracorage. In a series of pitched battles on the fields before the walls of the Cormyr capital, hundreds of adventurers and the forces of light from all over Faerûn fought the forces of darkness to a standstill. This happened during the 10th month of 1373.

The other event was the Dracorage, which truly broke out at the end of 1373. Hundreds of dragons, driven mad by the strange King-Killer Star, descended over the lands of Faerûn and wrought destruction until killed or driven off. This calamity hit all sides in the conflict equally hard. After the actions of adventurers ended the Dracorage forever, all sides started to desperately gather power for new offensives. Dragonkind seemed to be more active than ever. Lightning storms and falling stars all over Faerûn brought dragon eggs from the skies, comparable to the creation myths from oldest Draconic legends. The decimation of the forces of light, however, has enabled the Barbaric and the Monstrous to rear their heads in the Western Heartlands again. The Barbaric, the Monstrous, and the Damned. Towns were raided, trade was interrupted. Starvation, pestilence and heresy reigned. Order collapsed. It got worse.

In Alturiak, or late fall, of 1374, Dragonspear Castle on the southern border to the High Moor was the site of a summoning of an Archdevil, Haagenti. Almost the equal of a dreaded Lord of the Nine Hells, the Dark Dreamer is met by an Angelic Host led by the Archangel Gloriana. This breached the celestial compacts between the Outer Planes, and the apocalyptic Battle of Broken Wings ensued. The Archdevil and the Archangel obliterated each other without a trace, and Dragonspear Castle, the mighty, haunted keep watching over the mesa of Dragonspear, was razed to the ground. Decapitated, the Infernal Legion of the Blessed Nightmare retreated into the dark Depths below Dragonspear. Glorianas Goldnight Host was greatly decimated, and many mighty angels were felled or disappeared without a trace.

During the ascend of the King-Killer Star, a lot of dragons retreated to the Depths below Dragonspear, as the strange magic in the Depths allowed them to sleep through the Dracorage. Strangely, hardly a dragon has returned. The events around Dragonspear and Arabel have largely eclipsed the founding of the Manyarrow Kingdom of the orcs in the North, another tide of darkness encroaching against the beacon cities of civilization on the Sword Coast. Strange folks have started converging on Dragonspear during 1374, for mighty weapons and magic, angels and fiends, and darker things are rumored to wait in the vast, lightless dungeons beneath.

One year later, in the dreary last days of Winter 1374/1375, a group of adventurers gathers in the small fortress town of Redsealburg, built on the wooded mesa of Dragonspear at the southern edge of the mist-shrouded High Moor. Each of them has their own reasons to descend into the infamous Depths of Dragonspear, but they know that they need to walk their path together, for alone, they are lost in the Dark.

************************************************** **********************

Hi all,

this is me trying my hand at doing some PbP gamemastering.

Now, this is an interest check before I start writing up even more: Would be anyone interested in the following:

I try to create and master a game with my megadungeon, the Dragonspear Depths in Faerûn as a centerpiece. I would like to recruit some players to play the first episode/session as a test of my online GMing capabilities and see how all that works in online play. It's my first time, please be gentle.

The basic plot is, at the start at least, explore the Dragonspear Depths below the Ruins of Dragonspear Castle and the surrounding High Moor in the Faerûn of 1375 (3E, with some medium changes to the setting). This is not quite a sandbox, but on a scale from Paizo-style Adventure Path to true sandbox this game is decidedly tipped towards a sandbox. The rest is emergent gameplay, like the West Marches. I hope.

There will be some hooks, but what you do is for you, the players, to discuss and decide. There is no preset plot from me, only events in the world which may or may not be connected to you.

As in the West Marches game, after the end of an episode which I define as: The current party fulfills all conditions to get XP (see house rules below), I will call for a new round of players as soon as the next episode starts, or keep the old ones, depending on your interest. All players share the same world. There may or may not be breaks between episodes, depending on my available time. Basically, you can get out and later get back in.


Big 16:

Spoiler: Big 16

Show

1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, etc.)?
Pathfinder 1e

2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (eg. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)?
Old-school inspired Megadungeon in the Forgotten Realms.

3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many?
5-6.

4. What's the gaming medium (OOTS, chat, e-mail etc.)?
This forum here.

5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)?
Level 1.

6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?
As per class. No pregame crafting.

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?
You are responsible for your group composition and for the character you want to play. Talk to each other and see what you all like.

8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species?
Core races,
Aasimar (variant aasimar heritages allowed)
Dhampir
Drow (care for reactions from surface-dwellers)
Goblin
Ifrit (known as fire genasi in the Realms, same rules)
Kobold
Orc
Oread (earth genasi)
Sylph (air genasi)
Tiefling (variant tiefling heritages allowed)
Undine (water genasi)

9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points?
PB 25. First HD max as standard, second HD maximum, after that it's rolling normally. No buydown below 8.

10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so?
No evil alignment for now. No antisocial characters, please.

11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it?
As per RAW.

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?
Players will roll in the forum during their post and announce their mechanical actions at the end of their post. I will do the same. I may roll stuff like Bluff if it's supposed to be secret, and stuff like a saving throw or initiative for the sake of speed. If you can't actively decide to roll or not roll (like a saving throw), I may speed things up and roll for you.

I'm gonna roll in the open except for under-the-hood stuff like random encounters.

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.

XP is only given for treasure found and brought back to civilization (not for killing, but rewards for jobs done in the wilderness or dungeon give XP, too). 1 GP = 1 XP. Loot items which are worth less than 1GP do not give XP.
Leadership is not allowed.
The only allowed item creation feats are:
Brew Potion
Craft Wand
Scribe Scroll
If your character would get another item creation feat, substitute with a normal bonus feat instead.
All classes without spell progression get +2 skill points per level
All full BAB classes get knowledge(martial lore) as class skill
All classes with knowledge(arcana) get knowledge(psionics) as class skill and vice versa
Most (not the big 6, rather the more useless) magic items have their prices reduced.

Use PoW errata, if they benefit you.
Crusader: HD are d12. Crusader gets new stances on the same levels like a Warder.
Warblade: Has heavy armor proficiency.
All three ToB base classes can freely add one discipline from all three books (ToB, PoW, PoWE) to their disciplines known at first level.
For more details regarding ToB porting, ask me.
If it comes up: no off-screen crafting before campaign start. Crafting in downtime is fine, obviously.

These Feat Tax rules apply: http://michaeliantorno.com/feat-taxes-in-pathfinder/

Fighter: At level 1, gets weapon aptitude like a warblade. This can only be used to change feats gained while taking fighter levels, but it can also be used to change weapon groups of the fighters' class features.

Every character gets one of my fate points at creation. This fate point can be spent to either change one saving throw into a natural 20 after rolling, or stave off death once (the character ends up at -1 and stable and is unconscious from the trauma for several minutes instead of dying. This unconsciousness cannot be prematurely ended by any means. You almost died, received horrible trauma and are out for ~5 Minutes flat.)

You can have a maximum of 2 fate points, and you only get them at DM's discretion (usually after a major achievement).
If you, for whatever reason, run into the XP cutoff (if you would get 2 levelups or more at once, you stay 1 XP short of the second level up and all extra XP is discarded), you get a fate point. Because that is a major achievement.


Martial Traditions are changed: They do not exist. All initiating classes can, on their first level, trade one of their disciplines known for another from PoW or PoWE. This choice is permanent for this character and class and can not be changed. Basically, you can still do the same school switching, but it is permanent.
Mapping is the players' job except for battlemaps. Those will be displayed at a tumblr, unless I find a better solution.

Expect homebrew, and ported 3.5 material if it catches my fancy. You may or may not be able to use that material for yourself (depends on your ability to loot it). I reserve the right to change stuff like switch from normal summoner to unchained summoner, or allow unchained rogues etc. If it starts breaking the game, I need to change it. If that happens to one of your characters, you can rebuild, of course. I consider it improbable to come up, however.

I will be using AngryDMs Tension Pool mechanic.


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)?
Not long. Name, how you look like, where are you from, why and how are you here, what do you want in a megadungeon. That's enough. I'm a big fan of fleshing out a character during play.

15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?
Mostly exploration, hack&slash, and a bit of roleplaying, in that order. It's a megadungeon. Expect dungeon.

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?
Pathfinder Core Rulebook
Advanced Players Guide
DSP Path of War and Path of War Expanded. Use only the PoW errata parts which benefit you. But no extra material through web enhancements or articles.
The Magus Class, its feats, spells and archetypes from Complete Magic (not from other sources).
Tome of Battle from 3.5. For the usual suspects, my rulings apply (no IHS on the sun...). If in doubt, ask. See house rules. If a feat or other object is very similar to a PoW-item, use the PoW object instead.
Psion and Psychic Warrior from Dreamscarred Press with their psionic feats and powers from Ultimate Psionics.
The book restrictions apply to races (Alternate racial traits are allowed for all allowed races, though.)
Firearms do not exist in Faerûn.

Traits and drawbacks are not used.
Respect the game and the world, and get respected in return. Please do not break both.
See point 13.

Spoiler: Other Notes

Show

Other notes
Regarding playstyle: All characters always start at level 1. Players are explicitly allowed and expected to have multiple characters. You can choose which one of your characters to play at the start of an episode (or session or sortie or mission or whatever you call it). Basically, you can change characters in town.
I try to stick to the rules in the described supplements as much as possible. Rules from outside are not factored in (e.g. new combat maneuvers). For wilderness exploration, I use my own, very simple, rules.
Magic items exist, and there is limited trade with them. But do not expect to be able to buy everything you want, availability for shopping is severely limited. After the War and the Dracorage, much got destroyed or fell into the wrong hands and few people are able to craft new ones. Also, crafting magic stuff takes years and thus is not within the scope of this campaign.

This game is supposed to be somewhat old school influenced:
You are responsible for your own maps. I will provide battlemaps on a per-round basis and store them on tumblr or here, but that's it. If in a dungeon, you need to be able to navigate ("We go back to town" will be answered with "Describe the way you take.")
I will be using AngryGMs Tension Pool mechanic.
Plan what you want to do before starting an adventure (like in the West Marches). This can be done OOC.
How you compose your group is up to you (which characters you will be using)
All characters start at level 1. This makes it possible for characters with different levels to end up in the same group. Talk to each other and find a solution that works for everyone, that is also your responsibility.

Monster entries in the MM and other sources are considered baseline. They can be advanced. Dragons especially will be using stuff from the Draconomicon. Expect changes. If changes occur, they will be telegraphed in some way and can be found out by knowledge rolls as normal. ("The gelatinous cube is not transparent, but bright red").
Encounter balance will not be by party level, but by region. As a general rule (some exceptions may exist): The farther you go down in the dungeon, the more dangerous it gets. The farther you stray from civilization ( e.g. into the High Moor), the more dangerous it gets.
Death may or may not occur. I will roll openly and stick to the rules, but enemies want to survive and make sure their foes stay down.
Hirelings and hired NPCs are available. They will insist on shares of the loot though. Henchman quality depends on your reputation ;).

This is my first such post, so I welcome your opinions and feedback.

Regards,
Phil

[alwaysdying]

Interested. Long time D&D/PF player, not much experience with PbP. Huge FR fan, read nearly everything in print. I lean toward casters, if it makes a difference :)

[JNAProductions]

Megadungeons be cool.

May I have a link to the feat tax rules? I want to be sure I know which one you're using.

Would a Dragonfire Adept be acceptable as a class? Ported from 3.5, found in the Dragon Magic book. Similar to a Warlock, but less blasty and more breath-weapony.

[Kvard51]

I'd absolutely be interested. I loved old school D&D, where you didn't buy your magic items and your character was something other than a block of numbers.

I tend towards casters, rogues, and paladins.

I can manage to fill any roll in the party.

[angelpalm]

It says use errata if it benefits us, so that means we can use pre-errata stuff if we want within reason? I just want to combine the meditant and pathwalker archetypes for psywar like they use to

[Dimers]

I'm interested. A couple questions, please:
Are traits on the table?
If so, are campaign traits okay, and do you allow a drawback?
The pfsrd page for the Appraise skill lists some haggling 'rules'. If a character gets more GP value for their treasure this way, they don't get more XP, do they?

[GameMaster_Phil]

Good to know there is some interest. Added the link to the feat tax rules in the OP. It is the original blog post.

Only use pow errata. The psionics stuff as it stands in Ultimate Psionics. I cleared that up in the OP.

I'd rather stick to the allowed material in the original post for now, sorry.

I had thought I included that, but apparently it got lost during editing: no traits and no drawbacks.

Edit: XP is for market price. If you get a better price, the extra money is the reward.

[angelpalm]

Good to know there is some interest. Added the link to the feat tax rules in the OP. It is the original blog post.

Only use pow errata. The psionics stuff as it stands in Ultimate Psionics. I cleared that up in the OP.

I'd rather stick to the allowed material in the original post for now, sorry.

I had thought I included that, but apparently it got lost during editing: no traits and no drawbacks.

Edit: XP is for market price. If you get a better price, the extra money is the reward.

Yeah that pathwalker is a pow archetype. It use to stack with the meditant then they did some weird stuff with it. There is errata that it has that I would like to keep because the recovery mechanic was broken pre-errata but I just want my psionic punchy man that can do cool maneuvers and such. That way I don't have to multiclass and just go from psywar straight into the awakened blade prc like the good old days.

edit: anywho good luck and yes I am interested.

[Foryn Gilnith]

There are many aspects of these rules that I'm not 100% clear on and would therefore be curious to see deployed in practice. I've always felt that online roleplaying should place more emphasis on the OOC side of things, because that's how the face-to-face groups I've been in have operated (much more successfully, on average) - and so this idea of planning adventures and choosing group composition OOC seems quite fitting. Not entirely sure what criteria you'll be using for party selection, though, in light of that.

[OnceUponAnAxe]

Interested in this for sure!

[DaOldeWolf]

I dont know what the term megadungeon means but but everything else sounds fascinating.

[CasualViking]

Just wanted to be a pedant and point out that Magus is from Ultimate Magic, not Complete.

[Burden King]

Showing interest, thinking about joining as. Promethean Alchemist

[CasualViking]

Khiral Orbryn, Elven Harbinger
Role: Fast melee combatant
Status: non-combat equipment not bought yet.

Khiral grew up in a prosperous elven community, the son of middle class merchants. He was young and carefree, with little interest in the family business, and his family could afford for him to be so. He was showing aptitude and interest for academic subjects, but he had not learned any trade, and spent much of his time frolicking with the other youths.

But something changed a season or two ago. Khiral became moody, temperamental, and started getting in fights. The best diviners his parents could afford predicted a bleak and violent future for the young man. Rather than becoming an outcast and eventually worse, his parents strongly suggested that he should leave voluntarily, to seek his fortune and an outlet for his violent temper elsewhere. They outfitted him with armor and an heirloom blade, and sent him on his way.

Little does anyone know that he was somehow touched by the far away Battle of Broken Wings. Who knows what the depths of Dragonspear will hold for Khiral Orbryn?

[GameMaster_Phil]

@CasualViking: Nice writeup! That's the level of detail I'm looking for. And yes, old 3.5 disease. It's Ultimate Magic, of course.

@Burden King: Sorry, that archetype is not in the books.

@Foryn Gilnith:
What appears unclear to you? Or do you just want to see how it plays out? I don't really choose the party, just the players. I have the opinion that it is the players responsibility and freedom to find a comp they are happy with. If someone told me I had to play e.g. a divine caster or else, I'd riot.

@DaOldeWolf:
There are as many definitions as GMs out there. But to me, a megadungeon is a dungeon large and diverse enough to be the centerpiece of a campaign. Old Undermountain is a megadungeon, or Castle Whiterock, if that rings a bell to you. It is important to know that it cannot fully be cleared, as it is too large and "resettlement" happens too fast.

@angelpalm:
If this game materializes, combining those archetypes looks ok to me. But please use the errata'ed recovery mechanic. I don't have access to the original right now, but this is already strong!

@all: Thank you for your interest . I'm gonna go forward with this. I will post a proper recruitment thread and more information for prospective players (hooks, what happened in the Realms between the 3EFRCS and the end of 1375 etc.) next week, as I have some days off there.

[Burden King]

@Burden King: Sorry, that archetype is not in the books.

Oh, ow that slowed my role. I even made an entire character I was pretty hype for. But that’s fine I suppose. I’ll see if I can get my gears going to a different character, hopefully salvage some of this. My bad on not readings things properly or sourcing the stuff I was tapping into, I only have access to the SRD so it’s a bit less clear at times.

[Nishai]

I am also very interested in this although I would probably be sticking to casters as I am not too familiar with PoW. Looks awesome though.

Edit @gamemaster phil Are we limited to those books for things like sorcerer bloodlines or cavalier orders?

[GameMaster_Phil]

Yes, and all other rules.

[DaOldeWolf]

@DaOldeWolf:
There are as many definitions as GMs out there. But to me, a megadungeon is a dungeon large and diverse enough to be the centerpiece of a campaign. Old Undermountain is a megadungeon, or Castle Whiterock, if that rings a bell to you. It is important to know that it cannot fully be cleared, as it is too large and "resettlement" happens too fast.

Nice. I would totally love to try it out.

[Dimers]

I'm looking at an earth genasi sorcerer, Deep Earth bloodline.

[tofucake]

@GameMaster_Phil Will size increasing characters often be hampered by the dungeon environment?

[Nishai]

Alright I'm thinking Aasimar magus for may character pulling my inspiration from final fantasy red mages.

[Ancient]

Expressing interest as Tuk, a Goblin PoW Stalker (Vigilante Archetype), when the proper recruitment thread comes up.

[GameMaster_Phil]

Looks nice so far. @tofucake: Prior experiences with the dungeon have shown that size increase is mostly possible, but your fighting style should not 100% rely on it. Squeezing through medium-sized doors is frequently necessary.

[Burden King]

@Gamemaster_Phil would you be alright if I went with A preservationist? It’s an archetype in ultimate magic, and I like the idea of becoming a Pokémon master

[Burden King]

@Gamemaster_Phil would you be alright if I went with A preservationist? It’s an archetype in ultimate magic, and I like the idea of becoming a Pokémon master

Though maybe I should go summoner broodmaster for that?I’ll have to compare the two, but I’ll see how you feel in general on the concept in its early state

[GameMaster_Phil]

Sorry, I'd like to stick to the books and rules defined in the op.

[Burden King]

Sorry, I'd like to stick to the books and rules defined in the op.

But ultimate magic is one of the book you allowed though isn’t it?

*reads more carfully*

Ooh, you are only allowing the Magus from Ultimate magic, not ultimate magic itself? Am I reading that right?

[GameMaster_Phil]

Exactly. The magus and its archetypes, feats obviously for the magus, are allowed. Spells from Ultimate Magic are allowed only if they appear on the spell list of the magus, and then are only on the magus spell list.

If in doubt, just ask. My intention is to not restrict the magus, but keep the rest of the book out.

[Burden King]

Exactly. The magus and its archetypes, feats obviously for the magus, are allowed. Spells from Ultimate Magic are allowed only if they appear on the spell list of the magus, and then are only on the magus spell list.

If in doubt, just ask. My intention is to not restrict the magus, but keep the rest of the book out.

Ah that’s a major bummer. Back the drawing board once more I suppose