Character Creation for Exordium
General Character Creation
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 and http://www.penandpapergames.com/foru...les-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 the following specific rules:
Additional Player Behavior and Expectations
- Please try commit to the 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
- Usage of the rules from the Player's Handbook 3 and Heroes of the Feywild is different from the general guidelines. Posts #27 and #39 present further details, but in summary, players may be of the wilden (PHB3), hamadryad (HF), and satyr (HF) races, the runepriest (PHB3) or seeker (PHB3) classes, all of the new sub-classes (HF), and may purchase Feywild adventuring gear as part of their starting equipment. They may also use any feat that's not geared to a proscribed race, class, or sub-class and they may use skill powers. However, Berserkers may only take the Temperate version of the Heartland class feature.
- 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. 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), HF (Heroes of the Feywild), MP (Martial Power), MP2 (Martial Power 2), PHB (Player's Handbook), PHB2 (Player's Handbook 2), PHB3 (Player's Handbook 3), and PP (Primal Power).
MapTool Version
We will play using April's stable build of MapTool: version 1.3.b86
Autumn Knight Character Advancement
Since Autumn Knight and Dispositio Diabolum share the same setting, if you played in the Autumn Knight adventure, you may use your Autumn Knight character by making the following changes:
- Please follow the guidelines listed above where applicable.
- Regardless of the experience you gained during the Autumn Knight adventure, your character starts with a base of 26,000 experience points, at the beginning of the 11th level, as with all the other characters, but see also the Autumn Knight Participation Bonuses section, below.
- Your character is five years older.
- You may change your alignment, as long as your new alignment is still Lawful Good, Good, or Unaligned and still obeys any divine class or multi-class restrictions.
- Your equipment and magical items will be dealt with as described in the previous post.
- A summary of the advancement to 11th level is as follows, assuming your character was 8th level.
- Add +1 to all of your ability scores.
- Add three times your class's hit points/level to your hit points, and add 1 more to reflect the change in your Constitution. Recalculate your bloodied value and healing surge value.
- If any of your ability scores are now an even number, add 1 to your relevant attacks, damage, defenses, healing surges, initiative, skills, and other adjustments where applicable.
- Add +1 to your initiative, attacks, defenses, and skills to reflect your increase in level.
- Add two new feats. One may be Paragon Tier. See also the retraining instruction, below.
- Select a Level 9 Daily Attack Power and a Level 10 Utility Power.
- Choose your Paragon Path, subject to my approval as discussed above. Gain the features for that Path and a Level 11 Paragon Encounter Attack Power.
- You may retrain up to a total of 3 trained skills, powers, or feats. One of these retrainings may be to replace a Heroic Tier feat with a Paragon Tier feat.
- For 7th level Autumn Knight characters:
- Add +2 to two of your ability scores and +1 to the remaining four.
- Add four times your class's hit points/level to your hit points, and add 1 or 2 more depending on whether you increased your Constitution by +1 or +2. Recalculate your bloodied value and healing surge value.
- For all of your abilities that you increased by +2, and if any of your other ability scores are now an even number, add 1 to your relevant attacks, damage, defenses, healing surges, initiative, skills, and other adjustments where applicable.
- Add +2 to your initiative, attacks, defenses, and skills to reflect your increase in level.
- Add three new feats. One may be Paragon Tier. See also the retraining instruction, below.
- Select a Level 9 Daily Attack Power and a Level 10 Utility Power.
- Choose your Paragon Path, subject to my approval as discussed above. Gain the features for that Path and a Level 11 Paragon Encounter Attack Power.
- You may retrain up to a total of 4 trained skills, powers, or feats. One of these retrainings may be to replace a Heroic Tier feat with a Paragon Tier feat.
Autumn Knight Participation Bonuses
For players who played through one or more of the Autumn Knight story segments, they may add one of the following additional benefits to their character for each story segment they played in:
- +1000 xp
- +1000 ducats of starting equipment or funds
- DiscipleofYawgmoth, who made it through the entire adventure, may, at the player's discretion, forgo all of the above bonuses and instead increase one of the three starting magical items by one level.
For example, Palpatim, who participated in the Fiaell and Aufeis story segments, may choose +2000 xp, or +2000 ducats, or +1000 xp and +1000 ducats.
In addition, if players are using the actual characters from The Autumn Knight, they may retain the use the following specific items from that adventure provided they were in the Aufeis story segment. These items must still be "purchased" normally and the character who wound up possessing the item at the end of the adventure may lay first claim to the item:
- bundles of Empyrean Wonderland currency (90 ducats, 340 ducats if the copper clip is included)
- Glatisant's Ivory Goat of Travail (replaces a level 11 magic item; Kathra)
- Glatisant's Spell Emblem - Transmission of Unwelcome Fortune (3400 ducats; Chant only)
- "Goblin's Compass" gemstone (500 ducats; Kathra)
- The Lost Claw of Pontanok, a jagged battle axe +3 (replaces a level 12 magic item; Orthrum)
- The Orb of Winter's Wasting (replaces a level 11 magic item; Chant)
- promissory note to the Badger's Cellar in the Empyrean Wonderland (free)
- Residuum over the starting maximum amount (40 ducats' worth; Chant)
- Storm-forged Mithril Scale Armor +2 (4200 ducats)
- Wind, Gnomon, and the Hunters of Stories, Volume One (475 ducats, contains the rituals Affect Normal Fires, Comprehend Languages, and Magic Circle; Chant)
It should be noted that none of these items will be integral to the Dispositio Diabolum campaign. In particular, items listed above that are related to the Empyrean Wonderland will be of dubious utility and value.
The other items mentioned in the Autumn Knight player rosters are available if they weren't used up or lost during the adventure, but they are more-or-less standard magical items and equipment. If a value is listed for the item, it may be purchased at that exact amount. If a price is listed for the item, it must be purchased at 5x the listed price.
