SettingThe old world was gripped by war, ridden by strife and the misuse of magic. Civilisations that had stood for millenia shook at their foundations with the power unleashed by the mage-states as legion upon legion crashed. At last, the force of the spells became too much for the world to bear and all creation began to crumble away into fire and oblivion.
Nobody knows who summoned the gates, whether it was the gods or an enclave of mages, or simply that the power sparked in the inevitable confontation between Ironblood and Morul tore holes in the very fabric of reality, but everywhere small rifts began to appear in the growing darkness, showing promise of a green world beyond.
Faced with the choice of destruction, you chose life and stepped through the gate.
You found yourself on the crest of a rolling hill, grassy plateaus and expansive hardwood forests below. You have nothing on you but the clothes you wore and the equipment you carried when you stepped through the gate. Looking around to gather your bearings, you see two other people on the hill, similarly confused by their surroundings.
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There are currently no available slots.So for the sake of avoiding difficulties setting up, the rules are thus:
1. You need to be at least passingly familiar with Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 Edition. 4th Edition is all very well, but it doesn't do non-combat situations successfully, and I personally am not familiar with AD&D (2nd Ed).
2. The party maximum is four. Play can begin once three full characters are accepted, but only four will play at a time. When someone dies, they are (unless you are very lucky and the circumstances exist for resurrection) dead. Their slot becomes open to the next person to submit a character sheet of the average party level (rounded down).
3. Slots are first come, first serve, but I will only count
completed character sheets as valid. See post below for an example of a valid character sheet. In other words, if you want to play, post a completed character sheet.
4. Everyone starts at level 1 at the beginning of the campaign.
Campaign SpecificsEveryone starts with a
maximum of 50gp in equipment,
unless they take the Aristocrat NPC class, in which case they can start with 250gp's worth of equipment. Commoners start with 10gp of equipment, if you are feeling masochistic.
Every additional level (for those starting later in the game), add
100gp to the equipment total.
Much of the campaign emphasis will be on simply surviving the new world, both its natural and civilised dangers. How low-magic the game promises to be will depend on the events of the game, but I am warning you now that it
will be low-loot. Wits and skill are going to be more important than items, and being able to use treasure you might not normally consider to be treasure may net you more rewards.
I like to torture spellcasters. That's a lie, but things are going to be as difficult for magic users as they are for equipment-monkeys.
If you are a cleric, your connection to the old gods is gone. You will need to find a way to make a link with what, if any, divine forces exist here.
If you are a wizard, you are right out of luck. Unless you can successfully find another wizard or source of arcane text to learn from, you will need to set up your own lab to research new spells.
If you are a sorcerer, you are
also right out of luck. Unless you can successfully make pacts with supernatural beings able to grant you power, you cannot advance to new spell levels.
If you are a druid, you follow a similar restriction in that the natural forces of this world are unknown to you. You will need to perform certain (dangerous) rites to advance to new spell levels.
If you are a bard, you have things (relatively easy). You just need to gain sufficient
Prestige to advance spell levels. More on that later, but it will probably be along
these lines. You can access a spell level for every 2 Prestige you have (level 0 is free, but you will need 2 Prestige just to get level 1 spells). You start with 1 Prestige for being a bard.
Rangers and Paladins, you follow the same rules as for Druids and Clerics where magic is concerned.
Tips:- Do not always run into conflicts. Remember that healing may be limited and that resurrection is pretty much out of the question. You are in Roguelike territory now.
- As such,
it is okay to back down. Survival is more important than victory.
- It will go better for you if you extend that same grace to your enemies. Unless they are likely to prove a future threat, granting mercy when you do not
need to kill someone will increase the likelihood of the same being extended to you in the future.
- Do not assume that everything works as it did in the Old World (i.e. standard fantasy). Remember who your DM is.