Adrian stood slowly brushing the dust off his pants and adjusting his rucksacks. He read the note over a few more times, a bitter smile slowly forming on his face. He walked across the room, stepping over the shattered wood, left over from the collapsed ceiling. He held the ragged note above his head, trying to keep it away from the dust that danced around his feet. As he reached the window he paused for a moment, staring at the note again. It's interesting, to see how such high hopes have held out against this. How disappointing.
Adrian snorted and slipped the tattered page into one of his bags. He was an archivist, after all. He had devoted himself to the collection of such documents. Even if this one was only about forty years old, he knew it could prove invaluable. Yet some small part of him wanted to tear the document to pieces and toss it out the window. In defiance. To deny the truth. To sustain some happy illusion.
The view from the window washed that all away. From the top of his particular tower, he could look across the entire western region of Great Arum. The Temple of Virtues stood shining just off the coast. The horizon was fogged over in every direction, added to the dismal view. Of course, far more depressing then the constant fog was trying to pretend there was a Great Arum left to admire at all. The sight almost turned his stomach over in disgust.
This tower was the tallest in the region, but Adrian could see plenty of other towers... laying on their sides, shattered and ruined. The gutted corpses of fallen towers lay embedded in the husks of abandoned cities. The streets were nothing but a mess of cracked marble. Grey dust and ash covered the whole scene, stealing away the colour and any hint of remaining life. There wasn't a soul in sight, not a sign of motion save a single grey mass that served as a sky. The view disagreed with him. There was nothing left.
Adrian descended from the tower, clutching his note-bag and trying not to scream.
"We're coming for you, Mal'Xeron," Adrian whispered to the dead city.
I have a certain dislike for most of the random elements of D&D, as I say repeatedly through-out this post, and you will see that reflected in the rules below.
Sources
This game's going to be a little different, and that's by design. Get ready for it. Big breath. Every class found in Player's Handbook 1 is not available to players, with the exception of the Barbarian (Fix), Druid (Fix), Fighter and Rogue. Only one of these classes can be selected for your build. This is purely experimental, and there are several reasons for it. The only one you should really concerned yourself with, however, is that I want to see DIFFERENT classes then your average game. I want to see experimentation, not optimization.
Psionics are allowed
Tome of Battle is allowed, unarmed and arcane swordsages... if you must, for your concept. I'd rather you not though.
Tome of Magic is not allowed.
Starting Level, LA Rules, etc. - 7th level. No LA Buyoff. LA maximum +2, including any templates.
Starting Wealth - Wealth By Level, 19,000 GP. No more then half on one item.
Gestalt - http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/cl...Characters.htm
I want to see really iconic builds here, not multi-classing cheese and tomfoolery. I am looking for four or five players, which means you will likely be a party that still fills the regular roles that most parties need covered. You won't need to use the Gestalt rules as an excuse to try and be both the Tank and the Skill-Monkey, although you're certainly free to do so. However, I actually prefer more focused builds. I want to see two classes are support each other flavourfully and mechanically, each to some extent.
We'll be using fractional BaB as well, which makes calculating a little easier. I am honestly not good at EXPLAINING how to work out the math for fractional rules, only that I like the results. First player to eloquently explain fractional BaB will have a much better chance at being in the game!
36 Point Buy - http://emrilgame.netau.net/Dmstuff/pointbuy.html
36 points, because rolling a bunch of 13's hurts the soul. I suggest NOT buying any 18's, and spreading out your points for more positive modifiers, but that is just my suggestion.
Maximum Hit Points + CON, All Levels
This helps separate the squishies from the tanks, and helps me not accidentally kill you all. Gaining a level will always represent a few moments of self-reflection, meditation, and recalling of tales, after an adventure. Through this, the characters grow on their experiences and achieve a new "level" of understanding and ability, while the literal physical trails they have undergone will be reflected in their heightened endurance.
I recommend everyone have at LEAST a +1 in their CON Modifier to help them endure as they level.
~~~
Alternate Rules
These are the rule changes and alternative rules we'll be using.
Turning As Damage
Turning undead is a standard action that deals 1d6 damage/level+ Charisma modifier to all undead within a 30-ft. radius burst of the character. The affected undead get a Will save (DC 10 + caster level + Charisma modifier) for half damage.
Evil spellcasters instead heal undead within 30 feet for 1d6/level + Charisma modifier.
Turn Resistance will treat your level as being a number of levels lower. For instance, if you're turning as a 6th level cleric, but your target has a Turn Resistance of +4, you will only deal damage as a 2nd level cleric.
Barbarian Fix - Barbarian's gain their DR 2/- at 1st level, and then an additional 1/- at 4th level, and every 3rd level thereafter (7th, 10th, etc). This means at 7th level a Barbarian has DR 4/-.
The druid must choose to give up her wild shape ability in exchange for becoming a swift and deadly hunter.
Gain
Bonus to Armor Class when unarmored (as monk, including Wisdom bonus to AC), fast movement (as monk), favored enemy (as ranger), swift tracker (as ranger), Track feat (as ranger).
Lose
Armor and shield proficiency, wild shape (all versions).
All Skills Are Class Skills - A rule of my own creation
It works exactly as it reads. Cross-Class skills aren't a great design idea, because they don't take into account the possibility of a character in a unique environment. Why can't a monk have extensive knowledge of The Planes and Use Magic Devices, because her monastery plays host to an arcane academy? Similiarly, the wizard who trained at the Forbidden Temple may have been shown the secrets of his patron hosts, and learned to Climb and Balance in dangerous places like the monks?
Ultimately, cross-class skills are a limitation to imagination, and so I got rid of them.
Second Feat At Second Level - As it reads, so it is.
Armour As Damage Reduction - http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/ad...eReduction.htm
Ever since I first got my hands on Unearthed Arcana, I fell in love with this rule. I've heard some criticisms about it, and I even understand them, but this one is definitely in. The result of this rule makes combat more edgy and dangerous across all levels, in various ways. Again, this helps tanks be tanks, and squishies be squishy. As the game scales, enemies can dish out more damage per hit, but characters are likely wearing better (re: magical) armour that protects them further, although it still scales in favour of the monsters, making high-level play much more dangerous.
Bell Curve Rolls - http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/ad...CurveRolls.htm I am actually NOT a fan of the d20 system as written. It produces too much randomness, and in my seven years of playing this great game, I have always felt a bit of frustration with that low range of possible rolls that lead to failure. This system replaces the randomness of the d20 system with an "average ten" system, meaning the most common average number you will roll with this system is 10.
This does two things really well - one, it means that things your character is good at, they're REALLY good at, and two, the randomness of the d20 system is minimized to a much more thematic and entertaining level - both critical failure and success become more rare, and therefore more impactful and exciting.
Limited Multi-Classing - A rule of my own creation
I was originally just going to ask that players not multi-class at all, but I understand this would be unpopular. However, I am limiting the number of classes your character can have to three, not including Racial Paragon Classes and Prestige Classes. (Three in total, not three per "side" of the gestalt.) I'd rather see focused, iconic characters then "jack of all trades" characters.
Mal'Xeron and the Seven Temples
