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An online extension of the Undermountain run on Monday nights at Games & Gizmos Redmond.


    House Rules and Character Primer (the Thread)

    GMChristian
    GMChristian
    Admin


    Posts : 33
    Join date : 2011-10-25
    Age : 39
    Location : Redmond

    House Rules and Character Primer (the Thread) Empty House Rules and Character Primer (the Thread)

    Post  GMChristian Sun Nov 13, 2011 3:56 pm

    Welcome back to Waterdeep and the Realms!
    The Forgotten Realms, one of the world's most beloved and oldest campaign settings for the world's most popular role-playing, has been entertaining players and storytellers since the 1960s, when its creater, Ed Greenwood, first began writting within the world. For numberous reasons, the Forgotten Realms has not be adapted officially to the Pathfinder ruleset. The official storyline for the campaign world has taken a different turn, advancing over 100 years, destroying much of the established cannon, and rewritting the very surface of the world. What I present here is an alternate version of the world, one closer to the earlier versions of the Realms, both in time and in feel. With that, the new history of the Forgotten Realms.

    DR 1385, the Year of Blue Fire
    In the Year of Blue Fire, Cyric, the Mad God of Strife and Murder, and Shar, the Goddess of Darkness and the Shadow Weave, constructed an ellaberate plan to kill Mystra, Goddess of Magic, and split her power between them. Their plan was expansive and flawless except for one factor seemingly forgotten: the god Savras, patron of Diviners and Truthseekers, and subordinant to Mystra.
    Savras was thought to be powerless to foresee Cyric and Shar's plan, and even if he had foreseen it, fickle in his loyalties to the Lady of Mysteries. Savras not only foresaw the dark Gods sceme but also the fallout Cyric and Shar had failed to conceive of themselves. If Mystra was slain, her realm of Dweomerhome would collapse, killing Savras and Mystra's other servitor dieties and collapsing the very Weave of magic. Savras took all of this to Mystra in warning, hoping it was enough to save magic.

    The Death of Mystra and Rise of the Chosen
    Savras arrived just in time to see Cyric attack Mystra. As the Mad God went to deliver the killing blow, Savras threw himself under Cyric's blade, suffering a mortal wound but buying Mystra a few more moments of life.
    Mystra used this time to call out to her Chosen. In her time of need, Mystra called her Chosen to her side, to stand with her in desperate battle against her immortal enemy.
    Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun, the Seven Sisters and Elminster himself each responded to the call. In Mystra's desperate final stand, her mortal champions stood and fought by her side. It isn't know which the Chosen survived, just that some must have. Fore in her last moment of life, with Cyric looming over her, Mystra ordered her remaining Chosen to support the Weave, to keep it from collapsing, to keep magic alive. And with that last command, Mystra died to Cyric's hand.
    In the skies over Toril, white-blue fire erupted as far as the eye could see in all directions, from horizon to horizon. Almost as soon as they appeared, the flames disappeared. The Weavestabilized, saved by the remaining Chosen of the now dead goddess.

    Dweomerfall: the rebirth of the Chosen

    When Mystra died, her plane of Dweomerhome and the Weave itself collapsed, bound to her as they were. Her Chosen sacrificed themselves to the Weave, stablizing it with the shards of divinity granted to them by their goddess and being absorbed into the Weave.
    Alerted by such a catestrophic event, Helm, Tyr, Torm, Lathander and numberous lesser gods captured Cyric and bound him, locking him away in his planar realm of the Supreme Throne. Ilmater revived Savras, healing his serious wound. Azuth, God of Mages and Magic-users, Mystra's right hand, realized the sacrifice of the Chosen but also realized the true nature of such a melding with the Weave: the Chosen had become the Gods of Magic, the Weave their avatar, control of all magic their's to do with as they wished. Azuth took it on as his responsiblity to commune with these dieties and make sure they understood their responsibilities.
    What Azuth found confused and astonished him. The Chosen were ascended, absorbed into the Weave as he had foreseen but their individual minds and consciousnesses no longer existed. They had become the Chosen, the impersonal, impartial mind of the Weave itself, unconcerned with followers and worshipers, only with the safety and stability of magic in the Realms.
    The Realms remained much the same but much had changed that day, to be known henceforth as Dweomerfall, the final death of Mystra.

    Today:DR 1386, the Year of the Halfling's Lament


    Life goes on in the Realms as it has for most of the Era of Upheaval but a few noticable exceptions exist:
    -The Gods have taken a more vested interest in the day-to-day dealing of mortals since Dweomerfall. The events of that day reminded the gods that powers can die and mortals can ascend (outside of the Time of Troubles, in case they forgot).
    -Khelben "Ravencloak" Arunson (the "real" Khelben Arunson) has returned from Oerth and taken over his grandfather's tower in Waterdeep, as well as his title of High Mage of Waterdeep. With his reappearance, Tsarra Chaadren has had to step down as "Khelben", while she retains her status as the the "Blackstaff" and head of the Moonstars. Khelben the Younger finds himself in conflict with Tsarra over the legacy of the Blackstaff, the Ravencloak disaggreeing with his grandfather's political puppettry and the Moonstars' hidden agendas. Tsarra, of course, believes the Blackstaff could do no wrong and was only saving stupid people from themselves.
    -The Knights of Myth Drannor have retaken the city and rule over the forest of Cormanthear as a reestablished elven nation. The fey'ri and their diabolic allies have been permanently ousted from the forest.
    GMChristian
    GMChristian
    Admin


    Posts : 33
    Join date : 2011-10-25
    Age : 39
    Location : Redmond

    House Rules and Character Primer (the Thread) Empty The Rules

    Post  GMChristian Sun Nov 13, 2011 3:59 pm

    What to bring
    To play in this game you will need the following:
    A copy of the Pathfinder Core Rulebook
    A full set of dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20)
    A character sheet or record
    A pencil
    Scratch paper

    A little bit of investment is being asked of you. I understand if you can't bring everything on the list, just let me know if you can't, I'll work with you. All that I ask is you come prepared to play to the best of your ability.

    Table Etiquette


    While I'm running this game, I'm going to ask a few things of you, the player.
    First off, since this is going to be an open game, at least to start, I ask for a little patience as the group might be a little large. To keep things moving and keep things entertaining, I'll be looking for people to take on certain "jobs". For those that help me out with those "jobs", there will be rewards of XP and the like. This should help to keep the game on track and moving quickly. Help me help you.
    Second, please pay attention to the game. I love to run a fun game that isn't taken too seriously, everyone enjoys, so on and so forth. But I do want the game to stay the game. A little digression is ok but just keep it coming back to Undermountain.
    Thirdly, don't argue rules with me. I respect your rules knowledge, I encourage it, I love talking about this stuff... outside the game. If you know how the rule works and can explain it quickly, cool, we'll go with it. But I don't want to enter into a debate everytime the game gets dramatic. If you find a rule that I called wrong, bring it up to me after the game. Until the end of the session, let's just use my ruling until then.
    Lastly, remain respectful of other players and of me, the GM. This is just a game, a game that we play to have fun. Please don't interupt other players, insult people at the table or disrespect other's space of property. I hope this goes without saying, but hygiene is also a factor at my games, as in have it.

    General Rolling Rules

    Quick couple of things about dice rolling:

    1. If I ask you to roll, you roll the dice, not someone else. That's a part of the game.
    2. Don't roll dice until you roll something good and "decide" to keep it for the next time I call for a roll. Try to pull this, I will have you reroll. YAY!

    Christian's Greater Rule of Fudging

    I use a screen when I storytell. That's that, deal if you don't like it. That being said, you won't see what I roll on dice. So I'll let you know now that I will "fudge" rolls but I will always, ALWAYS fudge in your favor. I'm trying to keep the game fun for you by keeping freak bullshit from killing you. If you throw a bitch-fit (yes, I think you're a needy bitch if you need me to roll in the open), I will roll where you can see it but I will not fudge those rolls. The dice are law in the open.

    Character Alignment


    Alignment is one of the most hotly debated factors in role-playing games. Everyone has their own views and so here are mine and how it will affect this game:
    Alignment dictates the means you take to your ends. Alignment reflects your actions, not your intent or your justification of your actions. To give an example, a paladin must decide weather to kill a baby that he knows will grow into an evil overlord that will kill thousand under his rein, or not. Killing the baby is an evil act, the paladin will lose his status and have to atone for it. Allow the baby to live, thousands die but the paladin took the "good" course. Tough moral decision? Yes. Consequences? Yes. That's what alignment is there for, to define your character in the hard times.

    Usable Books

    All Pathfinder hardcover books at fair game. Everything else (Pathfinder softcovers, third-party Pathfinder products, 3.0-3.5 material) is on a case by case basis, feel free to run them past me and I'll approve them, most likely. One exception: No, I repeat, NO psionics period. Why? Because I hate them. End of story.

    Custom Material

    Please, please, PLEASE! write custom material. Want a new spell for your wizard? Write it! New feat for your fighter? Write it! Prestige class, archetype, vehicle, weapon, armor, hell, race? God, I love custom work, anything to make your character unique and fun. I will review any new material and work with you to balance it against existing material. But do it, I want to see what you come up with.
    GMChristian
    GMChristian
    Admin


    Posts : 33
    Join date : 2011-10-25
    Age : 39
    Location : Redmond

    House Rules and Character Primer (the Thread) Empty Character Creation

    Post  GMChristian Sun Nov 13, 2011 4:02 pm

    Basics

    Seeing as Undermountain is a challenging dungeon that may damn well kill your character, you'll be starting at 3rd level with all the benefits that come with it.

    Rolling Stats

    We'll be using the "Roll 4d6, drop the lowest" method. Once again, you have to roll these dice yourself and you have to roll in front of me, while I'm paying attention. If your rolls truly suck, we'll talk.

    Hit Points


    Maximum hit points for your first hit die, roll at each later level. Standard, standard, standard.

    Starting Gold


    3, 000 gp, spend as you like but no more than half (1,500 gp) on any one item. Oh, and no custom magic items with starting gold.

    Traits

    You do get to select two traits following the standard trait rules presented in the Advanced Player's Guide. The only trait not avaliable is Orphen. Want a trait that doesn't exist, write it! Can't push that enough.

    Classes, Archetypes, Feats, Skills, Spells


    Any official versions of the above are legal for you to choose.

    Variants

    The following variant rules are going to be used:

    Alternate Racial Traits (pg. 8 Advanced Players Guide) – These will only be used in the constructions of subraces that exist in Faerun and are available as PC races (See below). Certain exceptions may be made (such as Lorekeeper).

    Called Shots (pg. * Ultimate Combat) – I will not be using these rules as the GM but you, as a player are welcome to use them. It's not easy but I can see how it's fun.

    Critical Hit Deck (Game Mastery Supplement) – Once agian, I won't be using this but you as the player will be. Enjoy.

    Subraces

    Dwarves -

    -Shield Dwarves – All racial traits of the dwarves presented in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook.

    -Gold Dwarves – Deep Warrior replaces Defencive Training.

    -Duergar – All racial traits of Duergar presented in the Bestiary.

    Elves -

    -Sun/Moon Elves – All racial traits of the elves presented in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook.

    -Wild Elves - +2 Dex, +2 Wis and -2 Int. Silent Hunter replaces Elven Magic.

    -Wood Elves - +2 Str, +2 Dex, and -2 Int. Woodcraft replaces Elven Magic.

    -Drow – All racial traits of Drow are present in the Bestiary. Noble Drow are not allowed in this game.

    Halfling -

    -Lightfoot Halfling – All racial traits of the halflings presented in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook.

    -Strongheart Halfling – Bonus feat at 1st level. This replaces both Fearless and Halfling Luck.

    -Ghostwise Halfling – Nope, can't play these. Doesn't translate to Pathfinder, and dumb race anyway.

    Half-elves -

    -Half-Moon/Sun/Wild/Wood/Drow Elves - All half-elves have the same racial traits as those presented in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook.

    Half-Orc -

    -Half-Orc – All racial traits of the half-orcs presented in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook.

    Note: No psionics. Don't ask me about it. I'm not kidding, don't bring it up to me.

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