Doors and Shadows 5e game OOC (Open for one more.)

Draco Ex Machina
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Doors and Shadows 5e game OOC (Open for one more.)

Post by Draco Ex Machina » Thu Sep 21, 2017 2:47 pm

Hey folks,

I've been tossing around ideas for this campaign for a while, but I didn't have time in my schedule for another realtime game, so I'd been thinking of just tossing it.

However, it just occurred to me that I'd love to dm a play by post game. I have plenty of time for that, and I can post every day if need be.

Any interest in this?

I'd be allowing any officially published material, including all variant races, EE material and the Planeshift crossover supplements. I'm also willing to allow warforged, and possibly other playtesting material. I'm also allowing a samurai class from DMs Guild that a friend of mine made. The Plane Shift have some cool new races and backgrounds and such, and one even has a new sorcerous origin. Anything else just run by me, I'd probably allow most things that aren't obviously broken.

Here's some links to free materials for people who don't have access to the money costing variety:
Plane Shift: Zendikar
Plane Shift: Amonkhet
Plane Shift: Kaladesh
Elemental Evil Player's Companion
5e Basic Rules
Samurai Class
Eberron Unearthed Arcana

To make your characters just go ahead and give me the relevant info: What resources your using, character name, stat numbers, background, and basic equipment. To simplify matters, you can either use a point buy/standard array, or you can have me roll you up a set on CoyoteCode.
Your characters more likely than not should not know each other yet by the start of the game, and will be suffering from some memory loss (A beloved trope.)

As far as setting goes, I want to try to be vague and let you guys explore it honestly. It is a homebrew though, loosely inspired by Final Fantasy and Planescape.
Last edited by Draco Ex Machina on Wed Sep 27, 2017 9:04 am, edited 2 times in total.

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thinkslogically
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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by thinkslogically » Thu Sep 21, 2017 7:34 pm

I almost certainly have more room in my life for another pbp game, but I'm just home and will need to give it a bit of thought.

Couple of questions - What's the balance between combat and utility going to be like? And what level will we be starting at? Also, how will we choose stats?

I know you don't want to give too much away about the setting, but what style will this be? Like is it a full open world and/or are we starting in a particular environment type (desert / ocean / dungeons / cities)?

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by Draco Ex Machina » Thu Sep 21, 2017 11:24 pm

Well, I'd like to think I'm flexible enough to have a good balance between combat and utility. I know as a player, I prefer to have a mix of combat and non-combat challenges to puzzle through.

I've generally been of the philosophy that players should generally start at level one, so that's what I'd been planning. However, it might work out pretty good for story reasons to start a couple levels higher, and I know play by post campaigns tend to go slower. If there's a particular level above one that people want to start at, I could be persuaded. I often like to just use milestone levelling for the first few levels though.

As for starting conditions, it will be fairly open world. You will be started out shipwrecked on a beach, but it's not an island, and there will likely be a city somewhere. There's definitely big things happenings that you could find, but even then, you'll have the choice as to how to approach them.

Stat wise, either point buy or I can generate some sets of numbers using CoyoteCode, player choice.

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by thinkslogically » Fri Sep 22, 2017 5:23 am

Cool that sounds interesting. I'll have a think about a character build today.

PS I personally would quite like to start at level 3, just because it's a more well-rounded starting point for virtually all classes and isn't too squishy. Happy to go with the consensus, but it does usually take ages to level on a forum game :)
Last edited by thinkslogically on Fri Sep 22, 2017 5:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by Arch Lich Burns » Fri Sep 22, 2017 5:53 am

Sounds interesting. I may look to see what I want to do.

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thinkslogically
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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by thinkslogically » Fri Sep 22, 2017 7:15 am

Ok, so my concept at the moment is to make something like a Tempest Cleric (PHB) / Storm Sorcerer (SCAG?). Probably water genasi for flavour (EE). I need to figure out how to make the build, but basically, the idea would be that rather than coming from the shipwreck per se, this PC was spat out by the storm, essentially created from the storm that sank the ship, for some unknown (possibly divine) purpose. That hopefully works with the amnesia starting point for the rest of the campaign...

What do you think?

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by Draco Ex Machina » Fri Sep 22, 2017 7:39 am

Arch Lich Burns: Great! Let me know if you have any questions or input. :)

thinkslogically: That would work pretty well, I love everything from SCAG so storm sorcerer builds are great by my book. Alternatively, if you didn't want to be a Genasi, Zendikar Merfolk, Volo's Tritons, or Kaladesh Aetherborn all have some similar flavour elements. (Merfolk and Tritons because water, Aetherborn might fit the Storm-birth.)

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by thinkslogically » Fri Sep 22, 2017 8:03 am

Ok cool. I think I'll stick with genasi for now. Aetherborn look cool but they're a little more sinister and "man-made" than I was thinking. Will give it some thought though :)

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by Arch Lich Burns » Fri Sep 22, 2017 8:17 am

For the samuri class you have to create an account to even see the pdf, and I don't really want to do that. What is the basic gist of it?

Also I don't have scag or volio or the other things you just mentioned in the last post.

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thinkslogically
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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by thinkslogically » Fri Sep 22, 2017 8:39 am

(if Scag is a problem, I'm happy to stick to the phb / ee)

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by Draco Ex Machina » Fri Sep 22, 2017 8:56 am

ALB: Yeah, that's what I hate about DMsguild.

It's kind of designed based on anime samurai tropes. I'd call it kind of a cross between a monk and a fighter. The three sub classes one gets more designed around heavy armor, one unarmored fast movement, and one gets spellcasting.

I'm honestly not a HUGE fan of the class or anything, but my friend made it, and I've been playing one in his campaign and it's been working out okay. Just thought I'd stick it in as an option.

thinks: Naw, I love SCAG. I said that any published material is acceptable, and I'm sticking by that. :) I just listed the links I did because it's all available free. Whatever you want to do though.

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by thinkslogically » Fri Sep 22, 2017 9:00 am

I was more suggesting not using it if the other players don't have access. Seems kind of bad manners to use rulebook that not everyone can access :)

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by Draco Ex Machina » Fri Sep 22, 2017 9:07 am

Well, I'd hate to restrict people to just the free materials too.

If someone REALLY wants to use something in a book they don't have access to, I'll probably put it together for them. I'll can just PM the details to them or something. It shouldn't be a problem. :)

I might just put everyone's character sheets into a google sheets document that we can all view, unless someone wants to keep their sheet private from other players for some reason.

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by thinkslogically » Fri Sep 22, 2017 9:11 am

Cool stuff :) how many players do you need / want by the way?

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by Draco Ex Machina » Fri Sep 22, 2017 9:18 am

Probably minimum of 3, tentative maximum of 5. 4 would be perfect.

I'd normally be comfortable with up to 7, but I back when I used to do play by post games in olden days (I'm talking like... 10 years ago) I recall games tending to lag more when more people were involved.


Question for all: What sort of combat do you guys prefer? I can pretty easily whip up a grid for each round, start a grid off for each encounter and just narrate from there, or just write things out descriptively. I'm comfortable with any of those, but I'm leaning towards grid play just because it's the first thing I think of for D&D. Any preferences?

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by thinkslogically » Fri Sep 22, 2017 9:22 am

No preference here, I'm good with whatever works for you.

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by spiderwrangler » Fri Sep 22, 2017 10:26 am

I'd be happy to take a stat roll from you, and see what sort of race/class I want to cobble together from there. I'm not familiar with all the sources, and have been keeping my game pretty much just core books, so may have to look into options.
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Draco Ex Machina
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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by Draco Ex Machina » Fri Sep 22, 2017 10:42 am

Would it help you guys if I went through some of the sources and wrote up some brief descriptions of the extra races and backgrounds and such, outside of core?

Here you go spider. I guess I could have let you do it, but I was still getting used to how CoyoteCode works, and I wasn't sure if I wanted 4d6 drop one or 3d6 straight.

_: 4D6.HIGH(3) = [4, 5, 3, 3] = 12
4D6.HIGH(3) = [6, 6, 2, 1] = 14
4D6.HIGH(3) = [3, 2, 2, 6] = 11
4D6.HIGH(3) = [4, 3, 5, 2] = 12
4D6.HIGH(3) = [4, 4, 3, 3] = 11
4D6.HIGH(3) = [5, 6, 4, 1] = 15


I'm liking how CoyoteCode works, so I'll probably keep using it. I'll probably just have you guys use your username_DS in the name field to keep things nice and organized.

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by thinkslogically » Fri Sep 22, 2017 11:33 am

Are you ok if I (or you, I don't mind) roll for stats and then decide whether to keep them or point buy? Also, I assume with rolled stats that we can allocate them wherever in the array we want (i.e. we don't have to use them in the order they were rolled)

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by Draco Ex Machina » Fri Sep 22, 2017 11:46 am


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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by Arch Lich Burns » Fri Sep 22, 2017 12:15 pm

I'd like a roll too. I am not sure what I want to get, but I am slightly tempted to get a shifter (razorclaw?) monk, or do something crazy and have a bird pokemon person and grapple and fly in the air and drop em.

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by thinkslogically » Fri Sep 22, 2017 1:39 pm

All right... This is a weird build, but at level 1 I've got:

Name: Typhos

Stats:
STR: 7
DEX: 11
CON: 18
INT: 9
WIS: 18
CHA: 16

Race: Water Genasi
Class: Tempest cleric 1 (will be cleric 2 / storm sorc 1 if we start at l3)

Class Feature (L1):
Wrath of the Storm: When an adjacent creature hits you with an attack, you can shock it by using your reaction dealing 2d8 thunder or lightning damage (with a DEX save for half damage). Can be taken WIS mod times per day.

Skill Proficiencies:
Insight
Persuasion
Perception
Religion

Languages:
Common
Primordial
One extra (Probably elvish?)

Background: Far Traveler

Far Traveler Feature: Your foreign nature can gain you access to those curious about your homeland.

Trait: I honor my deities through practices that are foreign to this land
Ideal: Everything is new, but I have a thirst to learn
Bond: So long as I have this token of my homeland, I can face any adversity in this strange land (jewelry)
Flaw: I don't take kindly to some actions and motivations of the people of this land, because these folk are different from me.

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

Description:
It would be fair to say that Typhos woke up after the storm in a state of discomfort and confusion. Torn from his oceanic home, he finds himself waking up in humanoid form on a beach that is far too hot (or cold) and far too bright. Spat up by the storm itself, he assumes he must have been deposited in this place for a reason, but whatever that reason is, he's keen to see it done quickly so he can go home again. He's not entirely sure where home is, but he knows this isn't it. Land is weird. It's too hot and also too cold and everything is very, very bright all the time.

Physical Description: Fairly short (5"4), male. He appears to be around 30 years old, but as far as he's concerned, he could have been born a moment ago. His skin is a sickly pale green, and his shoulder-length hair looks constantly wet, alternating in colour from browns to dark green (like seaweeds on a shore). His black, watery eyes are too large for a typical human, which still probably don't make him look as naive as he probably is.

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

Equipment:
Scale Mail
Sling*
Driftwood quarterstaff* (holy symbol)
Shield
Explorer's Pack
Travellers Clothes
Musical Instrument / Proficiency (Voice)
Small piece of Jewelry worth 10GP (wooden anklet, twining around his left ankle like a piece of seaweed)
5 GP

*If you let me swap the weapons out. If not, I'll take the quarterstaff and starting mace.

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

Spell list, assuming we start at Level 1:

Genasi cantrips (water):
Shape water

Cleric cantrips:
Guidance
Resistance
Light

Cleric level 1 spells (prepped for day 1):
Fog cloud (Storm domain, always prepared)
Thunderwave (Storm domain, always prepared)

Create / Destroy Water (becomes free at L3 as a race feature)
Detect Magic
Guiding Bolt (can I swap this to lightning instead of radiant damage for theming please?)
Inflict Wounds
Shield of Faith

Feat: Magic Initiate (Druid)

Cantrips:
Shillelagh
Gust

L1 spell (once per long rest?):
Entangle (flavoured as slimy seaweed / kelp)

----------

Quick question- can I use create water and shape water simultaneously? Or would I need to find somewhere to put the created water before I could shape it?
Last edited by thinkslogically on Sat Sep 23, 2017 7:24 am, edited 7 times in total.

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by Draco Ex Machina » Fri Sep 22, 2017 3:11 pm

Looks good so far, thinks. On that note, anyone else have any particularly strong feelings about starting level?

_: 4D6.HIGH(3) = [6, 6, 2, 1] = 14
4D6.HIGH(3) = [6, 4, 3, 1] = 13
4D6.HIGH(3) = [5, 4, 6, 2] = 15
4D6.HIGH(3) = [5, 3, 4, 3] = 12
4D6.HIGH(3) = [1, 2, 3, 2] = 7
4D6.HIGH(3) = [5, 2, 6, 4] = 15


There you go Arch Lich, I actually rolled 3 times for you, since the first two times were kind of bad rolls. (Less than point buy by several.) And hey, if you want a bird pokemon person, you do have several options. Besides the Aarakocra, there are also two varieties of bird people in the Plane Shift: Amonkhet (called Aven.) As far as a razorclaw shifter monk, that doesn't sound super optimized. I mean, it's fine if you want to, but their subrace ability would overlap with your monk ability, though the temporary hitpoints might still be nice (in which case one of the other subraces might be better) Alternatively, if it's the slashing damage to unarmed strikes you want, Aarakocra get that too, and you can possibly still do flying grapples. (But I will be paying attention to lifting strength by that point, and other potential complications, just to forewarn you.)

Admittedly, not everyone cares about optimization. Just play what you want to play. :)

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by thinkslogically » Fri Sep 22, 2017 4:55 pm

Sooooo.... Would there be any way to get Shillelagh for my guy? It's a druid only cantrip, but since I dumped str and dex it'd be super useful... Not an issue if it's too much of an ask, but I figure it's worth a shot. Don't ask don't get and all that :) I can't figure out a way to get it short of dipping druid, but I think that's just getting silly. Variant human would get me a feat (e.g. magic initiate) but then I don't get to build my cool water guy :)

For style, I'm going to take scale mail (obviously), and would like to switch out the mace for a quarterstaff if that's ok. Thematically, I was thinking that it could be a driftwood staff, with veins of manganese running through it (cos manganese nodules are a deep-ocean thing). As he (I'm pretty sure this guy is male) prepares his spells for the day, they appear on the staff and his arms as shifting tattoos / symbols. This would also double as his spellcasting focus for cleric spells and sorcery.

I have no real interest in a crossbow, so would like to dump that in favour of a sling and a few round beach pebbles if that's ok with you?

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Re: Doors and Shadows 5e game recruitment

Post by Arch Lich Burns » Fri Sep 22, 2017 5:09 pm

I think nature cleric might get it? I am not 100% sure.

I will have to look at each type of bird when I get home, but I think monk would suit it, sonce I plan on them being a very hammy wrestler/luchador/showy fighter. I may look into the samurai class later to see if I prefer that instead. Without looking at what the birds bring, this is what I am thinking so far. I might make adjustments once I look at them

Str: 14
Dex: 15
Con: 13 (I aim not to get hit)
Int: 7
Wis: 15
Cha: 12 (at least this much to bring in the bacon ham

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