Umiushi
07-19-2011, 06:28 AM
"Norin Trugvad doesn't belong to the Cordilleron Clan any longer, but they're well within their rights to send a party to look in on the place from time to time. If that party didn't come back, you wouldn't get a good feeling about it, would you? Well, what if instead, the party's arrival was reported before it left? You don't suppose it had anything to do with what they found in their mine? It would help if they'd been more specific as to just what that was."
I would like to announce the commencement of a 4th edition D&D campaign of six consecutive adventures for characters starting at the 11th level. The title of this campaign is Dispositio Diabolum, and the first adventure is named Exordium.
Setting
The campaign will begin in a Seelie kingdom of the Feywild and the first adventure will focus on events in and around a forest that has fallen under infernal influence. This will be my interpretation of the Feywild, as part of my homemade Unquiet Lands campaign setting. I don't own the 4th edition Manual of the Planes, so don't expect to see information from that rulebook implemented. See http://www.penandpapergames.com/foru...209#post140209 (http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/showthread.php/15814-The-Autumn-Knight?p=140209#post140209) for more information.
Specifically, it is set in the County of Gwyren Ogleth, a territory in the northern part of the Kingdom of Elveald, one of the two states that comprise the Seelie nation of the Bright Kingdom. To northeast is the Kingdom of Pellamar, another Seelie land. Pellamar is at peace with the Bright Kingdom, but the rugged terrain here makes communication difficult; trade between the two kingdoms is accomplished elsewhere.
Here, in alphabetical order, are some of the notable features in Gwyren Ogleth that may be relevant to Exordium:
Devilswood - formerly the Forest of Tirsifa, this woodland north of Rience has thoroughly earned its new name over the past three years. The crisis concerning the Devilswood should be close to the center of your characters' attention.
Eskaton - a town in the eastern part of the county, roughly the same size as Rience, dominated by a famous temple of the Drywkirdara wherein the Armor of Urien the Firbolg is kept as a relic
Fell's Holdfast - a small, walled keep occupied by a tiefling wizard in the northeastern edge of the county
Hook Street - a road that connects Gwyren Ogleth with the halfling-dominated County of Talinoat to the northwest. It runs through some fairly uninhabited borderlands between the two counties before passing through Rience and finally ending at the gates of Eskaton.
Norin Trugvad - a dwarf outpost on the southern shore of Scawmere, just east of the Devilswood. It was established by a member of the Cordilleron Clan, mostly to trade with Pellamar in the hope of obtaining mineral rights within that country.
Rience - a town of several hundred (it would be a large village in other lands) that serves as the county seat. It lies in the western part of the county.
Scawmere - a lake forming part of the northern border of Gwyren Ogleth
Most of the population of Eskaton, Fell's Holdfast, Rience, and the county in general are eladrin, with a sizable minority of elves. Norin Truggvad, of course, is inhabited almost entirely by dwarfs.
Exordium begins five years after the events in the adventure The Autumn Knight, which concluded in May. Knowledge of The Autumn Knight is not necessary to play in this campaign.
Play and Characters
As usual, characters will be generated in the same manner as they are for the other Unquiet Lands games. Please refer to http://www.penandpapergames.com/foru...yer-Guidelines (http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/showthread.php/9509-Player-Guidelines) and http://www.penandpapergames.com/foru...les-Guidelines (http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/showthread.php/9511-Character-and-Rules-Guidelines) for details. They will be advanced to 11th level using the chart on page 29 of the Player's Handbook or page 143 of the Dungeon Master's Guide, with additional rules as detailed below.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with The Unquiet Lands, you might want to start with this thread: http://www.penandpapergames.com/foru...-Start-Here%29 (http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/showthread.php/15563-The-Unquiet-Lands-Sub-forum-%28New-and-Potential-Players-Please-Start-Here%29)
The full Unquiet Lands sub-forum can be found here: http://www.penandpapergames.com/foru...-Unquiet-Lands (http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/140-The-Unquiet-Lands)
Additional Player Behavior and Expectations
Please try commit to the three to six sessions necessary for each adventure. It is easier for everyone if you leave the game between adventures rather than in the middle of one.
Inform me as soon as you know if you are going to be absent, late, leaving earlier, or leaving the game.
Send your character sheet to me in a manner that I can store locally on my hard drive. I will not accept any character sheet that I have to access a web site in order to look at.
Character Background, Description, and Personality
Players are responsible for determining why their characters are adventuring together and whether or not they are past acquaintances.
Players also need to supply the background and description for their characters, including whether the character is native to the Feywild or comes from the mortal world. They should also write some words about their character's personality.
Check with me in advance for your character's Paragon Path. My inclination is to allow any from the included rulebooks, but I do want to make sure it will fit into the setting.
Once their paragon path is approved, players should include a description of how they set out on that path.
These descriptions do not have to be exhaustive. Use as many or as few words as you wish to convey the important information.
Character Generation
Select a Background Option for your character as per the rules in the Player's Handbook 2, and restated in post #3 of the Characters and Rules Guidelines thread, linked to above. Remember that you are allowed to make up your own backgrounds, subject to my approval. I am getting tired of players telling me that they chose background X just so that they could get benefit Y.
When a character race is noted as speaking Common, they speak Elven instead.
When a character race is noted as speaking Elven, replace that with "a language of your choice, other than Supernal or Abyssal."
No more than two of your feats may be Paragon Tier. (One is from gaining 11th level, and the other from retraining at 11th level.)
Characters begin the game with three magic items each: one level 12, one level 11, and one level 10 item.
This is an exact quantity. You may not combine these items to obtain a higher level item, nor may you "break up" one of these items to gain multiple lower-level items. These items are considered to be the most valuable treasures you have acquired during your adventuring careers up to this point.
You may voluntarily reduce the level of any or all of these items, but there is no compensation for doing so, i.e. you do not gain ducats of purchasing power out of such a reduction.
You may convert any of these items into ducats of purchasing power by giving up the entire item, but it is treated as a sale. This means you only get 1/5 of the item's listed value back.
Coins of the realm are Ducats. There are ducats of fairy gold and ducats of fairy silver, termed gold ducats and silver ducats. A gold ducat is worth 1 gp and a silver ducat is worth 1 cp. (not 1 sp) A "ducat" is assumed to be a gold ducat. Copper, platinum, and other metals are not used as money in the Bright Kingdom, but gems are commonly accepted for larger values.
Characters have 5,000 gold ducats to purchase equipment, magical items, rituals, and so on. The following items are not available for purchase:
Undead grafts
Residuum in quantities over 360 ducats' worth per character
Magic items over level 15, including consumables such as potions, reagents, and ammunition
Githweave clothing, Drowmesh leather armor, Rimefire plate armor, layered plate armor, and Gith plate armor are unavailable. However, earthhide armor, finemail, braidmail, drakescale, and wyvernscale are permitted.
Camels and other creatures unsuitable for temperate climates
Rituals from the Draconomicon and Open Grave require my approval in advance.
It is not inappropriate for paragon characters to purchase and utilize mounts. However, party cohesion should be maintained, so it may be a good idea to discuss potential purchases in advance. I make no guarantees about the usefulness or appropriateness of any mount during the course of this campaign.
It is the responsibility of the player character to see to the upkeep of their mounts. In particular, accommodations for aquatic mounts must be arranged if they are to be kept.
The canonical lack of primal spirits in the Feywild does not apply to my campaign setting. Characters who use the primal power source are allowed to be native to the Feywild.
You may transfer funds to other players. All players involved in such transactions are responsible for confirming them with me prior to the start of the adventure.
Record-keeping
For all characters, I do require some additional information that is usually not represented on character sheets. It can be a real chore to look up character's various powers, items, and so forth. I would like the following reference information:
Note which books your class features and powers come from.
If your mundane items come from a book other than the Player's Handbook, tell me which book.
Tell me which book each of your magical items, alchemical items, and rituals come from.
Tell me which book each of your feats come from.
You may abbreviate the accepted sources to 366 ("Wish Upon a Star"), AP (Arcane Power), AV (Adventurer's Vault), AV2 (Adventurer's Vault 2), DP (Divine Power), MP (Martial Power), MP2 (Martial Power 2), PHB (Player's Handbook), PHB2 (Player's Handbook 2), and PP (Primal Power).
Rules Set
Player's Handbooks 1 & 2
Dungeon Master's Guides 1 & 2
Monster Manuals 1 & 2
Adventurer's Vaults 1 & 2
Arcane Power
Divine Power
Martial Power 1 & 2
Primal Power
Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons
Open Grave
"Wish Upon a Star" (Dragon 366)
Notable books not on the list include, but are not limited to, the Eberron and Forgotten Realms rulebooks, the Manual of the Planes, and the Player's Handbook 3. Rules, including races and classes, from those and any others not on the list are not going to be used or allowed, except possibly for monsters, NPCs, or other DM-controlled phenomena.
MapTool Version
We will play using April's stable build of MapTool: version 1.3.b86
All games will be conducted in text chat only. There will be no voice or video.
Gaming Style
My primary criteria to judge players is cooperativeness and responsiveness. I'm not looking for first-class gamers, tacticians, statisticians, or actors; I'm looking for people who are willing to make a sincere effort to play and create an enjoyable atmosphere together. Of course, I'm not turning up my nose at first-class gamers, tacticians, statisticians, or actors, either!
Party balance is not something I think you should worry about either. If I find myself running a game for five half-orc invokers tromping through the Feywild, that's fine with me. Don't bug other players about their character choices.
This is a short-term campaign. A character with a future is well-rounded and should be encouraged, but don't forget to focus on what your character is, not what their potential is. If you play through all six adventures, you will probably reach level 13 or 14, but that's about it.
Scheduling and Updates
Further announcements on the state of the game can be found in the Dispositio Diabolum thread, here: http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/showthread.php/19583-Dispositio-Diabolum
I am planning on running it every two weeks on chat. Currently, we play from afternoon to evening on Saturdays, all Pacific Time.
Right now, I have four confirmed players and am willing to take up to six on a first-come-first-served basis from the time a valid character sheet is submitted. Due to the high rate of player attrition for online games in general, even if the game seems full when you apply, there is a good chance you will be able to get in, anyway. I will post here with updates as to the status of the party.
If you think this will interest you, welcome! We're looking forward to hearing from you.
I would like to announce the commencement of a 4th edition D&D campaign of six consecutive adventures for characters starting at the 11th level. The title of this campaign is Dispositio Diabolum, and the first adventure is named Exordium.
Setting
The campaign will begin in a Seelie kingdom of the Feywild and the first adventure will focus on events in and around a forest that has fallen under infernal influence. This will be my interpretation of the Feywild, as part of my homemade Unquiet Lands campaign setting. I don't own the 4th edition Manual of the Planes, so don't expect to see information from that rulebook implemented. See http://www.penandpapergames.com/foru...209#post140209 (http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/showthread.php/15814-The-Autumn-Knight?p=140209#post140209) for more information.
Specifically, it is set in the County of Gwyren Ogleth, a territory in the northern part of the Kingdom of Elveald, one of the two states that comprise the Seelie nation of the Bright Kingdom. To northeast is the Kingdom of Pellamar, another Seelie land. Pellamar is at peace with the Bright Kingdom, but the rugged terrain here makes communication difficult; trade between the two kingdoms is accomplished elsewhere.
Here, in alphabetical order, are some of the notable features in Gwyren Ogleth that may be relevant to Exordium:
Devilswood - formerly the Forest of Tirsifa, this woodland north of Rience has thoroughly earned its new name over the past three years. The crisis concerning the Devilswood should be close to the center of your characters' attention.
Eskaton - a town in the eastern part of the county, roughly the same size as Rience, dominated by a famous temple of the Drywkirdara wherein the Armor of Urien the Firbolg is kept as a relic
Fell's Holdfast - a small, walled keep occupied by a tiefling wizard in the northeastern edge of the county
Hook Street - a road that connects Gwyren Ogleth with the halfling-dominated County of Talinoat to the northwest. It runs through some fairly uninhabited borderlands between the two counties before passing through Rience and finally ending at the gates of Eskaton.
Norin Trugvad - a dwarf outpost on the southern shore of Scawmere, just east of the Devilswood. It was established by a member of the Cordilleron Clan, mostly to trade with Pellamar in the hope of obtaining mineral rights within that country.
Rience - a town of several hundred (it would be a large village in other lands) that serves as the county seat. It lies in the western part of the county.
Scawmere - a lake forming part of the northern border of Gwyren Ogleth
Most of the population of Eskaton, Fell's Holdfast, Rience, and the county in general are eladrin, with a sizable minority of elves. Norin Truggvad, of course, is inhabited almost entirely by dwarfs.
Exordium begins five years after the events in the adventure The Autumn Knight, which concluded in May. Knowledge of The Autumn Knight is not necessary to play in this campaign.
Play and Characters
As usual, characters will be generated in the same manner as they are for the other Unquiet Lands games. Please refer to http://www.penandpapergames.com/foru...yer-Guidelines (http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/showthread.php/9509-Player-Guidelines) and http://www.penandpapergames.com/foru...les-Guidelines (http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/showthread.php/9511-Character-and-Rules-Guidelines) for details. They will be advanced to 11th level using the chart on page 29 of the Player's Handbook or page 143 of the Dungeon Master's Guide, with additional rules as detailed below.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with The Unquiet Lands, you might want to start with this thread: http://www.penandpapergames.com/foru...-Start-Here%29 (http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/showthread.php/15563-The-Unquiet-Lands-Sub-forum-%28New-and-Potential-Players-Please-Start-Here%29)
The full Unquiet Lands sub-forum can be found here: http://www.penandpapergames.com/foru...-Unquiet-Lands (http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/140-The-Unquiet-Lands)
Additional Player Behavior and Expectations
Please try commit to the three to six sessions necessary for each adventure. It is easier for everyone if you leave the game between adventures rather than in the middle of one.
Inform me as soon as you know if you are going to be absent, late, leaving earlier, or leaving the game.
Send your character sheet to me in a manner that I can store locally on my hard drive. I will not accept any character sheet that I have to access a web site in order to look at.
Character Background, Description, and Personality
Players are responsible for determining why their characters are adventuring together and whether or not they are past acquaintances.
Players also need to supply the background and description for their characters, including whether the character is native to the Feywild or comes from the mortal world. They should also write some words about their character's personality.
Check with me in advance for your character's Paragon Path. My inclination is to allow any from the included rulebooks, but I do want to make sure it will fit into the setting.
Once their paragon path is approved, players should include a description of how they set out on that path.
These descriptions do not have to be exhaustive. Use as many or as few words as you wish to convey the important information.
Character Generation
Select a Background Option for your character as per the rules in the Player's Handbook 2, and restated in post #3 of the Characters and Rules Guidelines thread, linked to above. Remember that you are allowed to make up your own backgrounds, subject to my approval. I am getting tired of players telling me that they chose background X just so that they could get benefit Y.
When a character race is noted as speaking Common, they speak Elven instead.
When a character race is noted as speaking Elven, replace that with "a language of your choice, other than Supernal or Abyssal."
No more than two of your feats may be Paragon Tier. (One is from gaining 11th level, and the other from retraining at 11th level.)
Characters begin the game with three magic items each: one level 12, one level 11, and one level 10 item.
This is an exact quantity. You may not combine these items to obtain a higher level item, nor may you "break up" one of these items to gain multiple lower-level items. These items are considered to be the most valuable treasures you have acquired during your adventuring careers up to this point.
You may voluntarily reduce the level of any or all of these items, but there is no compensation for doing so, i.e. you do not gain ducats of purchasing power out of such a reduction.
You may convert any of these items into ducats of purchasing power by giving up the entire item, but it is treated as a sale. This means you only get 1/5 of the item's listed value back.
Coins of the realm are Ducats. There are ducats of fairy gold and ducats of fairy silver, termed gold ducats and silver ducats. A gold ducat is worth 1 gp and a silver ducat is worth 1 cp. (not 1 sp) A "ducat" is assumed to be a gold ducat. Copper, platinum, and other metals are not used as money in the Bright Kingdom, but gems are commonly accepted for larger values.
Characters have 5,000 gold ducats to purchase equipment, magical items, rituals, and so on. The following items are not available for purchase:
Undead grafts
Residuum in quantities over 360 ducats' worth per character
Magic items over level 15, including consumables such as potions, reagents, and ammunition
Githweave clothing, Drowmesh leather armor, Rimefire plate armor, layered plate armor, and Gith plate armor are unavailable. However, earthhide armor, finemail, braidmail, drakescale, and wyvernscale are permitted.
Camels and other creatures unsuitable for temperate climates
Rituals from the Draconomicon and Open Grave require my approval in advance.
It is not inappropriate for paragon characters to purchase and utilize mounts. However, party cohesion should be maintained, so it may be a good idea to discuss potential purchases in advance. I make no guarantees about the usefulness or appropriateness of any mount during the course of this campaign.
It is the responsibility of the player character to see to the upkeep of their mounts. In particular, accommodations for aquatic mounts must be arranged if they are to be kept.
The canonical lack of primal spirits in the Feywild does not apply to my campaign setting. Characters who use the primal power source are allowed to be native to the Feywild.
You may transfer funds to other players. All players involved in such transactions are responsible for confirming them with me prior to the start of the adventure.
Record-keeping
For all characters, I do require some additional information that is usually not represented on character sheets. It can be a real chore to look up character's various powers, items, and so forth. I would like the following reference information:
Note which books your class features and powers come from.
If your mundane items come from a book other than the Player's Handbook, tell me which book.
Tell me which book each of your magical items, alchemical items, and rituals come from.
Tell me which book each of your feats come from.
You may abbreviate the accepted sources to 366 ("Wish Upon a Star"), AP (Arcane Power), AV (Adventurer's Vault), AV2 (Adventurer's Vault 2), DP (Divine Power), MP (Martial Power), MP2 (Martial Power 2), PHB (Player's Handbook), PHB2 (Player's Handbook 2), and PP (Primal Power).
Rules Set
Player's Handbooks 1 & 2
Dungeon Master's Guides 1 & 2
Monster Manuals 1 & 2
Adventurer's Vaults 1 & 2
Arcane Power
Divine Power
Martial Power 1 & 2
Primal Power
Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons
Open Grave
"Wish Upon a Star" (Dragon 366)
Notable books not on the list include, but are not limited to, the Eberron and Forgotten Realms rulebooks, the Manual of the Planes, and the Player's Handbook 3. Rules, including races and classes, from those and any others not on the list are not going to be used or allowed, except possibly for monsters, NPCs, or other DM-controlled phenomena.
MapTool Version
We will play using April's stable build of MapTool: version 1.3.b86
All games will be conducted in text chat only. There will be no voice or video.
Gaming Style
My primary criteria to judge players is cooperativeness and responsiveness. I'm not looking for first-class gamers, tacticians, statisticians, or actors; I'm looking for people who are willing to make a sincere effort to play and create an enjoyable atmosphere together. Of course, I'm not turning up my nose at first-class gamers, tacticians, statisticians, or actors, either!
Party balance is not something I think you should worry about either. If I find myself running a game for five half-orc invokers tromping through the Feywild, that's fine with me. Don't bug other players about their character choices.
This is a short-term campaign. A character with a future is well-rounded and should be encouraged, but don't forget to focus on what your character is, not what their potential is. If you play through all six adventures, you will probably reach level 13 or 14, but that's about it.
Scheduling and Updates
Further announcements on the state of the game can be found in the Dispositio Diabolum thread, here: http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/showthread.php/19583-Dispositio-Diabolum
I am planning on running it every two weeks on chat. Currently, we play from afternoon to evening on Saturdays, all Pacific Time.
Right now, I have four confirmed players and am willing to take up to six on a first-come-first-served basis from the time a valid character sheet is submitted. Due to the high rate of player attrition for online games in general, even if the game seems full when you apply, there is a good chance you will be able to get in, anyway. I will post here with updates as to the status of the party.
If you think this will interest you, welcome! We're looking forward to hearing from you.