The Sundered Way - OOC

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spiderwrangler
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The Sundered Way - OOC

Post by spiderwrangler » Wed Jul 20, 2016 5:09 pm

So what started out as a thread has turned into our OOC, as people wanted to play and we got underway quickly. I'll leave all of the other initial stuff below, but wanted to post in some relevant game resources.

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Map of Circle Vale Commons

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Tool Proficiencies





Hey all...

This isn't an official recruitment thread, it's entirely possible that I may decide I don't have time to do it, but I've been wanting to run a 5e game for a while now... and with my RL group ending our Star Wars Force and Destiny campaign and starting one in 5e (with someone else as DM), I figured now would be as good a time as any. What's that? You're interested, but have some questions? Ask away!

What is the setting?

The world would likely be one of my own devising, and as such I may tweak somethings, but would mostly be sticking to what's in the core books of the edition (as I don't have access to the expansion books).

How will turns work?

As much as possible, I plan on letting players make their own rolls using a forum-postable roll generator (such as Coyotecode)... this does mean that players will need to be relatively prompt and responsive. I'm not sure what my update schedule will look like yet, but as this game will require much less dice rolling on my end than the other games I'm currently running, hopefully by letting players do their own rolling, I can focus on story. I will be using Google Drive to share documents, unfortunately the form-fillable pdf character sheets are not form-fillable while on Google Drive. I'll likely be keeping a copy of baseline character sheets up to date and including links to them in the bottom of each post, as well as Google Drive drawn battle maps.

Well, I don't have the books, can I still play?

Certainly. In fact, this is one place where I intend to deviate from how most forum games I've seen generate characters. Since I have the books, and many players may not, I want to do a random character generation to avoid some of the need to be able to access game content. Shooting for less minmaxing and more taking an interesting character concept and running with it. I will roll up a series of Race, Class, and Backgrounds, and give players their choice of the results. Players will get to choose in a randomly determined draft order, and any unchosen character concepts may be the base for NPCs later in the game. Once you've picked out your character, you'll be able to flesh them out, chose gender, appearance, backstory (I may have questionnaires to this end), as well as making ability roles and making any class choices that need to be made at first level. As things progress, I'll work with you to let you know your options as your character develops.

How will you be doing abilities?

We will be rolling for them, roll 4d6, drop the lowest, add the top 3, then repeat 5 more times. These will generate your scores for Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma, and you may assign them as you see fit for your class and character concept.

I've not played D&D before, can I still play?

Sure! I'd not played proper D&D until Theis2's game here on the forums, and the upcoming RL campaign will be my first pencil and paper D&D, so I'm welcoming to new folks!

I've only played edition X, what is different in 5th?

From what I can tell, there are few distinct mechanics that vary from 3.5e (I haven't played 4e, so can't say what is and isn't different from that).

*Advantage and Disadvantage: This is a mechanic I find pretty interesting, and there are folks that go a lot more into the effect it has on the rolls produced, but at its simplest, there are 3 rolls I can specify characters to make when rolling a d20. The most common is just the standard roll. Your roll the d20 and whatever you get is what you get. Advantage and disadvantage both mean you instead roll two die, if you have advantage you take the higher, if you have disadvantage, you take the lower. This could be based on something (good or bad) that has happened to your character, or could be a result of your items, class, etc.

*Proficiency: Whether you are proficient in something (weapon, spell, tool, skill, saving throw) determines whether you can add your proficiency bonus. This condenses attacking, spell casting and resistance to your spells, skill use and saves into once value. It scales with level, and as long as you have proficiency with it, you can do it better. Your starting class, background, and in some cases, race, determine which skills you can select from to be proficient in, but generally you won't be able to add to those proficient skills except by taking the Skilled feat, or by multiclassing into select classes.

*Feats: Feats are much fewer, but are more powerful than in 3.5, with may feat concepts being combined. Part of the reason for that is that instead of being able to take a feat every few levels and being able to increase an ability score every few levels, instead you can do one or the other....

*Ability Score Improvement: Every few levels, you can increase one ability by 2, or two abilities by 1, OR choose a feat.

*Spellcasting: Caster classes have cantrips that can be cast an unlimted number of times per day, but are able to cast fewer spells at each level than in the past. However, low level spells can be cast at a higher level by using a higher level spell slot. In the case of some spells, this may increase the damage, targets, or duration of the spell.

I think I had other questions, but can't remember them just now...

Well, if you think of them, just ask!
Last edited by spiderwrangler on Mon Jan 28, 2019 9:03 pm, edited 12 times in total.
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thinkslogically
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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign

Post by thinkslogically » Wed Jul 20, 2016 6:03 pm

I'm in!

5e is awesome and theis's campaign is one of the most fun games on here :) more campaigning is all good on my book!

... I can't promise to be any more competent though.

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spiderwrangler
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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign

Post by spiderwrangler » Wed Jul 20, 2016 6:30 pm

thinkslogically wrote:... I can't promise to be any more competent though.
Not one of my criteria!
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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign

Post by thinkslogically » Wed Jul 20, 2016 6:46 pm

spiderwrangler wrote:
thinkslogically wrote:... I can't promise to be any more competent though.
Not one of my criteria!
Fuck yeah!

... Dibs on not being a super-serious grumpy paladin again though please. I think I'd like a character who's a little more morally chilled out next time around :)

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spiderwrangler
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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign

Post by spiderwrangler » Wed Jul 20, 2016 8:15 pm

I rolled up 32 race/class/background combinations. There was one human/paladin/noble... :p
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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign

Post by Arch Lich Burns » Wed Jul 20, 2016 8:24 pm

Oooh! I want to play!!! What odd combinations do you have there?

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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign

Post by Lurks_In_Shadows » Wed Jul 20, 2016 10:15 pm

This sounds intriguing. I can probably manage to post once or twice a day. If that's enough, I'd be interested. I haven't played or DM'd a game for about 25 years, so I'd be a little....rusty. :chuckle: It's pretty obvious I don't have the books, so I'd have to depend on everyone else keeping me on the straight.

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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign

Post by Theis2 » Thu Jul 21, 2016 1:47 am

thinkslogically wrote:theis's campaign is one of the most fun games on here :)
Oh shush, It's not like I'm the one making the crazy stuff happen. :p

I'm definitely in though, I just want to know if there are any classes/races immune to either poison or sleep :paranoia:
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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign

Post by BadgeAddict » Thu Jul 21, 2016 4:13 am

Semi-interested.

But, I tend to play small creatures with big attitudes...so, I'm not sure that would fit in.

I would pick up the mantel of the Kobold, - Zaks - The Unicorn of Chaos. (If it were possible)

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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign

Post by spiderwrangler » Thu Jul 21, 2016 4:27 am

Burns, I'll reveal the rest once it starts... ;)

Lurks, couple times a day would be more than plenty! No worries about being rusty.

Theis2, elves are proof against sleep, and there are a few that are poison resistant.

Badge, no kobolds, but there are halflings and gnomes.


I'm traveling out of town today, but I'll keep working on stuff to be able to open things up officially for recruitment once I get back.
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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign

Post by thinkslogically » Thu Jul 21, 2016 5:17 am

Yay!

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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign

Post by BadgeAddict » Thu Jul 21, 2016 5:30 am

Okay, Gnome then. Are we able to choose what class or will that be grab bag as well. I prefer the Druidic Life..plus a lot of their spells are kick ass. Though, I will leave my joining or not up to my potential other players...as, depending on my character builds (which I will defer to the side of caution on) are at times a bit chaotic..

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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign

Post by spiderwrangler » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:11 am

From a mixed bag of pre-rolled race/class/background, you'll get to chose a character. Some will be much more synergistic than others, while others may be completely against type. I'll post more about what each means later, but for now:

Races: about half the races have subraces, will will also be part of the package, race primarily determines ability score increases, some may confer proficiencies in certain weapons or skills, as well as extra racial abilities (ability to see in the dark, certain resistances or conditions where rolls would have advantage).

Dwarf
Elf
Halfling
Human
Dragonborn
Gnome
Half-Elf
Half-Orc
Tiefling



Classes: This is what you can do, and determines much of the character's stats. Hit Points, proficiencies, class abilities, etc. Generally speaking, each class has a primary ability that your standard character in that class would want to be good at in order to do well, though some may have a couple that are generally quite important.

Barbarian
Bard
Cleric
Druid
Fighter
Monk
Paladin
Ranger
Rogue
Sorcerer
Warlock
Wizard


Background: This is what you did before dipping into adventuring, and gives 2 extra skill proficiencies, and may give tool proficiencies, etc. There is also a background feature that allows for additional roleplaying benefits, and it will have you make a series of choices to outline your character's approach to others, and fill in some of their personal history that I can potentially use as future story arcs.

Acolyte
Charlatan
Criminal
Entertainer
Folk Hero
Guild Artisan
Hermit
Noble
Outlander
Sage
Sailor
Soldier
Urchin
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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign

Post by NotStickFigures » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:16 am

I'd be very interested, only have played 3.5, but have wanted to try out the new version!

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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign

Post by M0rtimer » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:24 am

...Ah, whatever. Not like I shouldn't have the time to get in posts. I'll throw my hat in the ring.

Might almost prefer to have my character rolled mostly random. I don't have any immediate character ideas, so assuming the class selection is not completely contradictory (dragonborn rogue anyone?) I'd probably be fine with tailoring a background around it.

Well, with one exception perhaps... Do the dragonborn have shouts? :p

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spiderwrangler
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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign

Post by spiderwrangler » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:41 am

Shouts? You mean snouts? Yes, their heads are rather draconic and snouty.
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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign

Post by spiderwrangler » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:55 am

Well... that actually puts us to 7 people... any more and I'll have to think about rolling to exclude some of you, so while this wasn't official recruitment initially... I'm going to say that it was, and close recruitment for now.


Interest order:

Thinks
Burns
Lurks
Theis2
Badge
NotStick
M0rt
Draft Initiative: 1D20 = [2] = 2
1D20 = [16] = 16
1D20 = [5] = 5
1D20 = [10] = 10
1D20 = [11] = 11
1D20 = [1] = 1
1D20 = [8] = 8

Thinks = 2
Burns = 16
Lurks = 5
Theis2 = 10
Badge = 11
NotStick = 1
M0rt = 8
Burns = 16
Badge = 11
Theis2 = 10
M0rt = 8
Lurks = 5
Thinks = 2
NotStick = 1


Well Burns, I'll PM you the list of character concepts to choose from, then work my way down the line. Keep in mind I'm traveling today, so this won't go quickly... and if you're at the end of the order, don't worry, I've got 32 rolled up, so there should be plenty to choose from.
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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign

Post by thinkslogically » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:58 am

The only caveat I'd suggest is that ideally any players in the campaign should at least agree to "play nice" with each other. It can be a lot of fun to have a character who's somewhat chaotic (see Jacon's character Cranberry in theis's game for a particularly good example) because they help drag a group through periods of possible inertia. It's no fun at all though if that character just turns into a one-man murder-hobo and derails the plot for the sake of being "edgy".

Spider - Would we be starting at Level 1 or Level 3? The reason I ask is that 5e is geared a little differently to previous editions and L1 & L2 characters are SUPER squishy. By the time a PC reaches L3, they're about the equivalent of a L1 PC from 4e. If we start at L1 it's an easier lead-in for new players, but we might end up with a few extra PC deaths at the start if you're not careful / lucky (although that could also be pretty damn funny if the players don't mind switching characters a bit! I certainly don't :D). Starting at L3 would reduce that risk a lot, but obviously removes the "training" period for new players.

EDIT: Shit yeah! We're doing this!!

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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign - RECRUITMENT CLOSED

Post by BadgeAddict » Thu Jul 21, 2016 7:15 am

So, If I understand. The races/classes etc that you listed, draft order means that once a race/class is selected than no one may pick the same again, is this correct?

^Even if not, it would be an interesting way of doing things.

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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign - RECRUITMENT CLOSED

Post by spiderwrangler » Thu Jul 21, 2016 7:23 am

The DM's inspiration mechanic allows me a little more agency in discouraging 'just for the sake of edgy' by rewarding substantive game play.

As far as level, I intended to start 1, but appreciate the heads up about squishiness. I'll try to scale things accordingly, and whether there is attrition may depend on how comfortable players are with it... if you want more challenge, that might result in occasionally needing to find a 'new' companion, we can roll that way, or I can let you have max HP on the first few level increases, give inspiration on early death rolls, etc.

Badge: Correct, each unique race/class/background is a distinct person, but we could certainly have multiple players of the same race or class or background, just not all 3 (because I double checked that after rolling then up) So we won't have 2 human/cleric/hermits, but we could have a human/cleric/hermit and a human/monk/hermit if you guys picked them.
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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign - RECRUITMENT CLOSED

Post by BadgeAddict » Thu Jul 21, 2016 7:32 am

So, races can be shared, and traits can be shared, but classes cannot?

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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign - RECRUITMENT CLOSED

Post by spiderwrangler » Thu Jul 21, 2016 7:39 am

I feel like either in not explaining it well, or your reading comprehension has taken a dip. :P. That was just an example. Each character combo is unique.

Don't worry about it. You aren't picking them out, you're selecting from a list I provide. Anything on the list I provide will be fair game.
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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign - RECRUITMENT CLOSED

Post by BadgeAddict » Thu Jul 21, 2016 7:49 am

Quick discussion among players: What alignment will you be picking

And/Or - Spider : are there alignments that we cannot have?

I ask because, A lawful good paladin wouldn't adventure with a group of evil players. and it would be nice to know what to expect up front.

I don't mind going either direction mind you.

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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign - RECRUITMENT CLOSED

Post by spiderwrangler » Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:08 am

I'd rather not run an evil game... or is it that I want to control the evil characters? If you keep it neutral and up, that would be good by me.
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Re: D&D 5e forum campaign - RECRUITMENT CLOSED

Post by thinkslogically » Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:24 am

Alignments are actually another thing that's much more flexible in 5e - paladins don't have to follow an alignment any more, just adhere to the path they swear to uphold. Alignments are also simpler and way less important than they used to be.

Saying that, I don't care about PC alignment so much as I care about group cohesion. Give the lawful good paladin a reason to travel with an evil wizard and it's all good (maybe the paladin is trying to protect the world from the threat of the wizard like an anti-bodyguard. As long as the wizard isn't a CE murder hobo all the time it should be possible to make it work.)

I'll just pick my character based on what everyone else chooses though. I'm flexible :)

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