Page 1 of 2

D&D: The Universe, Beta Version

Posted: 2004-04-08 07:50pm
by lazerus
I've been woking on a campagin world recently, and it's allready gone through the usual stages.........

[Flashback]
Me: What do you think?
Reviewer: This is the worst load of shit I have ever had the misfortuine to see, I spit upon your work! *spit*
Me: Woo-hoo! Best review yet! Time to beta test!
[/Flashback]

.........and so now it's time to beta test.

I'm looking for between 4 and 6 players to run a quick game through my new campagin world, giving helpfull critcizem as they go. Due to the........unique nature of the campaign world, there will be a few retrictions on classes.

The classes Bard, Barbarian, and Cleric are forbidden.

The class paladin has had it's name changed to "Defender" and no longer gets divine spells. In place of those spells they get 10 extra Lay-on-Hands points-per-day at 5th, 10th and 15th level. This allows Defenders to take the role of party healer. They also get a bonus feat at 5th, 10th, and 15th level.

For those of you that have the Arcana Undearthed book, the Astayik (sp) class is allowed.


The only other restriction in that, in the intrest of testing all classes, that you try to avoid repeats. IE, no party of entirely sorcerers.


The game would be 6th level.

Any takers?

Posted: 2004-04-08 07:58pm
by Alyrium Denryle
I will play as the party wizard.

Though, can we use the spellpoint rules from Unearthed Arcana? :D

Posted: 2004-04-08 08:04pm
by lazerus
Ack, not quite done posting the PC's races.

Spellpoint rules? I'm open to ideas but wouldn't that be a major game unbalencer?

Posted: 2004-04-08 08:20pm
by Alyrium Denryle
Well, it is a mana point system... And I was also going to sugest that we also use Fatigue rules.

Sorcerers would use a rechard system. They can cast unlimited spells, but the spells have a recharge time. I would also add in the caveat that they must make a concentration check DC 15+spelllevel+x where x equals the number of times the spell has been cast in that day. If they fail, they loose the spell as if they had failed any other concentration check.

Posted: 2004-04-08 08:22pm
by lazerus
Also, this game does not use the standard races...........

Humans: Just like in the book, good ol us.

Veg'nar: The result of mass mutations during the Great Cataclysim (i'll tell you about this in the game intro), the Veg'Nar are a magicly uplifted wolves. They are intellegent............sorta. Although the majority of their population is still very animal like. They have brown or grey fur, and stand an average of 6 to 7ft tall.
+4STR
+4CON
-2INT
-2WIS
-2CHA
Low light vision
Track By Scent
Natural claws and teeth: 1d4 damage
40ft movement speed

Veg'nar are strong and tough, but thick as bricks and still very animal like. Veg'nar have a +3ECL ajustment.

EDIT: For the record, they do have hand and can use equipment.

------------------------------

The The Kall-REsh: The Kall-Resh, better known as just the Kall, are the mutated remans of humans left after the Great Cataclysm. Stuck in one of the magic-overload areas, rather then flee like the rest of the humans, they toughed it out. After decades of living in the harshest of conditions, they have become resistant to.........pretty much everything. Kall-Resh look like humans, but have a more compact build and grey skin.

Damage Reducution equal to your CON devided by 10 (rounding down) minimum of 1. (this number changes if Buff spells or other abilities change CON).
+2 to all FORT saves.
-2 DEX.

The kall-resh are tough, but that's about it.
Kall have a +1 ECL ajustment.

--------------------------------

Verrik: The Verrik are humans who underwent mutations at the hands of the Dark Wizard Mellvar in the year P.C. (post-cataclysm) 81. His intent was to create a race of incredable spellcasters, and he succecded. Hoewever, all Verrik suffered from massive physical weakness, making them ineffective as part of his army. Mellvar was killed by Jonas the Defender before he could elminate the weakness and complete the project. There are two kinds of Verrik, ja-Verrik [sorcerers], and ke (k'ay) Verrik[wizards]. Verrik live for hundreds of years, and while there numbers are increasing, they are still extreamly rare.

+4 to spellcasting stat (INT, CHA, choose one)
+2 Innate bonus to spellcraft.
+2 Innate bonus to saving throws vs magic
-2 CON
-2 STR

The verrik have no ECL ajustment.

-----------------------------------

More races to come as I type them (my origional notes were on pad and paper). Feel free to comment on these, even if you arn't playing.

Posted: 2004-04-08 08:32pm
by lazerus
Ta'raie: The Ta'raie are another creation of the Dark Wizard Mellvar, created prior to the Verrik. They are the anti-thesis of the Verrik, lacking spellcasting talent, but making up for it with physical prowess. The Ta'raie look like anthro-cats.......sorta. Think a fuzzy ninja. They fur is usally black, but their race has an unsally high number of Albino's, so white is not unherd of.

+2STR
+2CON
+2DEX
Innate Martial Arts: Ta'raie do 1d4 natural damage on a HTH attack. If they are a monk, add this 1d4 to their monk damage dice.
The Ta'raie have a 40ft base move speed.

The Ta'raie have a +2ECL ajustment.

-------------------------

That's the PC races, what do you think?

Posted: 2004-04-08 08:46pm
by Alyrium Denryle
I dont mind at all... About those alternate rules?

Posted: 2004-04-08 09:08pm
by Captain tycho
I'm thinking one of those wolfmen as a barbarian...uber tank anyone. :twisted: ?

Posted: 2004-04-08 09:09pm
by Straha
I am in, I'll play some wizened old sage or somewhat.

Posted: 2004-04-08 09:23pm
by SirNitram
Wow, massively overpowered races that destroy any reason to play as a human.

Posted: 2004-04-08 09:24pm
by lazerus
Ok, we are using a MANA POINT SYSTEM.

A spell costs (1+(It's level)) mana points to cast. You calculate how many mana points you have, by taking the chart for your class, calculating how much mana you get for all of your spellpoints.

Posted: 2004-04-08 09:26pm
by lazerus
Wow, massively overpowered races that destroy any reason to play as a human.
Game Wrecker. *hugs his system*

And while I'll grant, this puts humans at something of a loss combat wise, the other races are, out of combat, screwed. so it evens out.

Posted: 2004-04-08 09:28pm
by Alyrium Denryle
lazerus wrote:Ok, we are using a MANA POINT SYSTEM.

A spell costs (1+(It's level)) mana points to cast. You calculate how many mana points you have, by taking the chart for your class, calculating how much mana you get for all of your spellpoints.
UA is a wonderful thing

Posted: 2004-04-08 10:21pm
by Captain tycho
Heh, the mana system allows me to cast true strike alot... :twisted:

Posted: 2004-04-08 11:20pm
by lazerus
Yes, makes mages nicer.

Of course, then you have the monsters with mana drain abilites..........

Posted: 2004-04-08 11:22pm
by Captain tycho
lazerus wrote:Yes, makes mages nicer.

Of course, then you have the monsters with mana drain abilites..........
I'm an assassin/rogue, the monsters wont see me until its too late.. :twisted:

Posted: 2004-04-08 11:31pm
by lazerus
Ho, boy.

I'm not sure who to be sorry for, the mosnters, or the punk with less HP then a squirrel.

Posted: 2004-04-09 03:24am
by Crayz9000
I'd love to beta test, but I don't really have any more time left this semester. If I can play, then maybe I'll take a shot at being a chaotic good human ranger or something like that.

Posted: 2004-04-09 09:49am
by A Big Flying Fish
I'll give it a go if theres room left.

Posted: 2004-04-09 12:18pm
by lazerus
Yep, theres room left.

Posted: 2004-04-09 12:23pm
by lazerus
In the Beforetime, civilization flourished.

A civilization that once spanned the globe, cities thousands of miles wide, magic and technology existing in perfect harmony, all of this was a reality.

Exactly why it ended is unknown. Some say the races of the Beforetime got too powerfull and attracted the attention of entites from beyond our realm.
Others say it was a out of control weapons of war, or maybe a natural disaster. What IS known however, is what happend, in an event that would be known simply as "The cataclysm"
the world ended.

The actual holocaust lasted less then two hours. Torents of raw magical energy fell from the sky, and quickly manifested in an infinity of random
and powerfull effects. In the cities, the buildings rose up from the ground and attacked those inside. Acid and fire rained from the sky, while
hundreds of millions of lightning blasts incinterated everything metal. Elementals rose up out of the sewers, and anyone unlucky enough to be a magic
user discovered that mana feedback was lethal.

In the forests, the power of the druids and nature absorbed more of the energy then it could ever control. The forests overgrew their boundries, animals
were mutated, or suffocated by masses of growing plants. The towns nearby were absorbed, lost in the mass of green. The few creatures that survived did so
by absorbing the magical power, warping them from harmless animals into shampling horrors, dangerous creatures that nature never intended.

In the underdark, the Drow and Dwarves though themselves safe from the chaos above. But, halfway through the nightmare, a great crack split the earth.
Molten rock spewed forth from the earths core and quickly sealed the tunnels. Mundane escape was impossible, and magical escape insane. In less then
five minutes, 99% of all that lived in the underground tunnels was dead.

Finally, the gods, the defenders of their worshippers, found themselves without a follower base, and helpless to stay off this disaster. With an unholy screech
heard by every living thing, the celestial realms colapsed in on themselves, and the gods died.






It has been 173 years since this diaster. The elves, dwarves, and many other rare and mystical races, allready low in number at the time of the disaster,
are extinct. Humanity barely survived, through sheer numbers. Little progress has been made in the time since the fall. Although the basics of magic have been
rediscovered, the secret of technology has been lost, all that remains is a few tech-arcana devices that are a mystery to those that use them.


Our adventure starts on the Island of Dahareen (Da-har-een), a small island off the cost of the mainland. (think about 1/3ed the size of cuba). It was
not hit as badly by the cataclysm as the rest of the world, a full 9% of it's population survived. Since then, civilication has been rebuilt here, in
relitive isolation. A few ships had come 40 years ago, bearing Verrik and Ta'raie, all seeking a place to live safe from the mad wizard that created them,
as well as a few Veg'nar and Kall-Resh, and been allowed to stay. But for the most part, the Dahaeenians have lived a peacefull existance,
on their nice, temprete grassy island, save from the horrors and violence of the mainland.

But recently, lack of living space and raw materials has forced action. The kingdom of Dahareen MUST expand if it is to survive, you have been chosen as
long range scouts. You mission is to deep probe into the mainland, and analize possible threats.

--

A little OOC info

1) Defenders do not draw their power from any god, they are Arcane Healers, the title "Defender", and the alignment restrictions are due to the fact that
their mystical order is all about helping the downtrodden. Pally stuff.

2) Dahareen is a kingdom. The current king is regarded as somewhat of an idiot.

3) The country is 97% human, there is some descrimation against non-human races.

4)The world is, as a whole, call Gaia.

5) People from the mainland are called "Barbarians", granted, the only time you've met any is from 40 years ago, but it's good for scaring kids.

6) There is a LOT of superstition regarding the mainland. A sort of primal fear.

7) The Gods as you know them never rose again, while basic worship like druidic magic still exists, as well as a few cults. The great Powers-That-Be don't exist.

Re: D&D: The Universe, Beta Version

Posted: 2004-04-09 12:35pm
by Iceberg
lazerus wrote:The class paladin has had it's name changed to "Defender" and no longer gets divine spells. In place of those spells they get 10 extra Lay-on-Hands points-per-day at 5th, 10th and 15th level. This allows Defenders to take the role of party healer.
That doesn't sound like sufficient compensation for the lost magic. Give him an extra feat every three or four levels and that sounds a little more reasonable.

Posted: 2004-04-09 01:53pm
by lazerus
Thanks.

They now get one extra feat at 5th, 10th, and 15th level.

Posted: 2004-04-09 03:15pm
by Captain tycho

Posted: 2004-04-10 09:25am
by A Big Flying Fish
You killed my dwarfs :(

My Character[/url]