October 2008 Archives

Even though I will be running the new D&D game and not playing in it, I thought it might be a good idea if I went through the character creation process. I will be helping others do it  sometime soon and I probably ought to have done it ant least once.    

Start on page 14 of the Players Handbook

Choose Race and Class
I need a Drow NPC  for my upcoming campaign, so I will make a Drow Warlock.   The stats for the Drow come from the Forgotten Realms Players Guide.  The Forgotten Realms Players guide also has a special warlock pact for Drow called the Dark pact.  I'll use that as well, just so I can make sure this guy is good and complicated.  (Also it favors Chr which I plan on being my best stat)

Drow
+2 Dex, +2 Chr
+2 Intimidate, +2 Stealth
Speed:6
Darkvision
Fey-touched
Trance
Cloud of Darkness/Darkfire Encounter Powers

Generate Stats
Okay this is the hard part.   I'm going to use the point-buy method,but first I need to know what stats a warlock needs, also I need to figure out how to balance that with the stats that are used for defenses.

Defenses
AC : Dex or Int if wearing light armor
Fortitude: Str or Con
Reflex: Dex or Int
Will: Wis or Chr

Okay the Warlock entry says that a Warlock needs Chr, Con, and Int, well that matches up nicely. Using the point buy method I get these stats:
18 14 11 10 10 8

Which I assign as follows:
Str 8
Con 11
Dex 10 + 2 for Drow = 12
Int 14
Wis 10
Chr 18 +2 for Drow = 20

Yeah he suffers a little on the physical side but hey 20 Chr!  (Man I'm pretty)

Choose Skills
There aren't any additional skills from being a drow so they are all from the Warlock class.
I select Arcana, Thievery, Bluff, and Streetwise

Choose Feats
Drow Warlocks don't get any bonus feats so I just get one.
 Lets see what the FRPG has for a Dark Pact warlock. Hmm nothing for a Dark Pact warlock.  A Few for the Drow but nothing that seems to fit the character concept I have in mind.   (Sneaky, Manipulative, Mage)
Ah here we go, Warlocks do not get Ritual Casting as a class feature like Wizards and Clerics so I'll choose Ritual Caster.   Rituals look pretty useful.

Choose Powers
Okay so I get 2 At Will, 1 Encounter, and 1 Daily plus the special Encounter power for being a Drow.

At Will
Spiteful Glamour (Dark Pact)
Eldritch Blast (Class Feature)

Encounter
Curse Bite (Dark Pact)
Cloud of Darkness/Darkfire (Drow)

Daily
Your Glorious Sacrifice (Dark Pact)

Equipment
I don't need much but I'll pick up a few weapons just in case and since he starts out proficient in leather armor I might as well get some.

Fill in the Numbers - Most of this goes on the Character Sheet; Here's some additional notes I came up with.
 
Intelligence or Dex adds into AC if wearing light armor
The Character Class tell you what weapons your a proficient in.
The proficiency bonus for each weapon is listed in Chapter 7
Str Bonus adds to hit and damage on melee weapons
Dex Bonus adds to hit and damage on ranged weapons


Here is a link to the Character Sheet for the Warlock.  I think if I was making this for a real character I would want to rearrange his stats a little.  His HP and Fortitude Def just came out  to low for me. 
drowwarlock.pdf

Here's a power sheet that I created with the Power Cards app in the last entry. It's not perfect but it's better than writing them out by hand.
drowwarlockpowers.pdf


 

This site will let you create a pdf of all the powers for your D&D character.   Very Handy. 

http://dndpowercards.com/

Ptolus Campaign Introduction

The setting for this campaign will be the city of Ptolus.   Ptolus is a unique environment.   It's not uncommon for wizards to walk down the street escorted by summoned elementals or to see someone riding a Dragon.   Shopkeepers routinely use minor magics when bargaining with people and the City Watch employs trolls and wizards.

The Ptolus Campaign is set in and around the city of Ptolus.  While there may be short interludes where you travel in the wilderness most of the adventures will take place in the city and the Dungeon located beneath it.  Keep that in mind when creating your characters.  Characters with an urban focus will be more at home than those with a wilderness focus.  There are many ways for a traditionally wilderness focused to adapt to a city campaign. Many rangers in Ptolus are "urban" or "dungeon" rangers able to track and hunt creatures in the streets and dungeons of Ptolus.  A Rogue is the archetypal urban class and will find many uses for their talents in the city.  Many NPCs are Rogues or Multi-Class Rogues.

There are two PDFs of campaign material that are available at the campaign website.  The players guide contains the basic campaign information. I highly recommend reading this pdf, it gives you a great overview of the city and the world.  The world guide contains more detailed information about the world, history and races.  You don't NEED to read it but you will probably want to after the campaign starts.

Writeable PDF Character Sheet: http://channel-zero.net/rpg/rpg/B-W%204E%20DnDCharSheet%20writeable-GD.pdf

We will be using the D&D 4^th Edition rules.  Not every class and race that you might like are published at this time but you are allowed to swap your class or race for new one later on with no penalty if you wish.   If you have a really unique idea for a class or race you'd like to play let me know and I'll work with you to come up with something.  In the original Ptolus play test campaign one of the players was an Umber Hulk, so really anything goes. 

 

Core Ptolus Races

These races are common throughout Ptolus with Humans and Elves being the most populous.  These races all have full racial stats and feats for 4^th Edition.

Dragonborn - Draconic Humanoids

Dwarf - There are 2 kinds of dwarves in Ptolus: Grailwarden and Stonelost  In game terms they are nearly identical with only a few differences in their skill bonuses.

Eladrin -  Elder or High elves, not as common as other elves.

Shoal Elves - Elves from the Players Handbook

Half-Elf

Halfling

Harrow Elves - Elder Elves twisted by Ghul.

Humans

Tieflings - Descended from humans who long ago made a pact with the infernals.

Warforged - Living Machines created by magic

Genasi - Humans descended from the elemental powers; many different varieties

 

Minor Ptolus Races

There are many minor races that inhabit Ptolus. The following races have full character creation stats but no racial feats.  If you wish to play one of these races, we'll work out racial feats for your character.  If you'd like more details on only of these let me know and I can send you a short PDF.

Bugbear

Centaurs

Cheribum Elves - Winged Elves rarely seen outside their homeland.

Doppelganger - Changelings, Humans able to shift their form

Githyanki - The Githyanki and Githzerai are races from the Astral Plane

Githzerai

Goblin

Gnoll

Gnome

Hobgoblin

Kobold

Lizardmen

Litorian - "Lion-like" Humanoids; Unique to Ptolus

Minotaur

Orc

Shadar-Kai - Dark Humans

Shifters -Descended from Humans and Lycanthropes.

   

Classes

Classes fall into one of four Roles:

Tank:  Take damage and push enemies around allowing strikers to gain combat advantage. Tanks are also formidable melee fighters.

Striker:  Strikers are damage dealers.  They are meant to work with a tank gain combat advantage and bring enemies down quickly. 

Leader:  The leader classes support the other classes providing bonuses and healing.  They are also fairly good fighters but not as good as a tank or striker.

Controller:  Controllers deal damage to large numbers of creatures rather than dealing damage to a single target like a striker.  Controllers also provide some support to other classes through spells.

Core Classes

Cleric - Leader

Fighter - Tank/Melee Striker

Wizard - Controller

Rogue - Melee Striker /Thief Skills

Ranger - Melee/Ranged Striker

Warlord - Leader

Warlock - Ranged Striker/ Thief Skills

Swordmage - Tank/Controller

Paladin - Tank/Leader

Artificer - Leader/Ranged Striker The artificer is from an article on the D&D website and is still in 'beta."  You are free to play this class if it interests you, though it will probably change at some point.

Additional Classes

These classes are from an expansion book that "fills-in" the classes that were left out of 4^th Edition.   Feel free to play any of these as well, they are very well done.

Martial Artist - Melee Striker/Controller (Monk)

Nature Priest - Controller (Druid)

Savage Warrior - Tank (Barbarian)

Troubadour - Leader/Thief Skills (Bard)

Spellbinder - Controller (Illusionist)

Alignments

Character can be Lawful Good, Good, Neutral, and Evil. Playing an evil character can be difficult in Ptolus. Ptolus is a good-aligned city and many merchants and city officials commonly use magic to detect evil.  They may refuse to deal with or even harass evil characters.  However, there are quite a few evil people in Ptolus, and they also use lots of magic.  An evil player may have an easier time dealing with the criminals organizations of Ptolus. 

Chaotic Evil characters are not generally allowed unless approved by the DM in advance.  

 

Technology

Ptolus has a higher level of technology than a "standard" D&D game.    Black powder firearms, while not common, are readily available.  Firearms are mostly used by Dwarves, who can create them, and organizations like the Shuul, who employ many "clockwork" and "steam-powered" gadgets.  Firearms are "magical" in nature. Realistic black power firearms would never be workable in D&D.  (They take too long to reload.)

There is also Chaositech, which blurs the line between technology and magic.  You can find more information about Chaositech in the players guide and world guide.

 

Organizations

There are many organizations that exist in Ptolus.  A short description is given for each in the Players Guide.   Your character may want to join one or more of these organizations.   The Delvers Guild is of particular interest.  They provide many benefits to the large number of adventurers in Ptolus including a 10% discount at certain shops.

 

Background

It's entirely up to you if you want to have a detailed background story but there are a few things you need to decide about how your character fits into the campaign. 

Are you from Ptolus?

If so, what District did you grow up in?

If not, where are you from?

Why are you an adventurer?

Why did you come to Ptolus and does your characters Goal or mission beyond being an adventurer?

Example Goals:

• Get money to start a business in Ptolus. 
• Get rich from adventuring and set yourself up as a noble.
• You are wanted criminal/heretic and have come to Ptolus to hide out.
• You are under a curse or hex and have come to Ptolus to fulfill it or rid yourself of it.
• You have a powerful enemy and you have come to Ptolus to gain treasure and experience in order to defeat them.
• You wish to join one of the more powerful organizations in Ptolus such as the Inverted Pyramid, Knight of the Pale or one of the crime syndicates.
• Even better, you want take control/lead of one of these organizations. 
• You want to breach, explore and loot Goth Gulamel, and Jabel Shammar because no one ever has.

 

Buying/Selling

With all of the adventures bringing magic items and treasure out of the Dungeons below Ptolus, buying and selling loot is a formal industry.   There are quite a few shops in Ptolus that specialize in buying and selling magic items. In general, you can sell a magic item for 20% of its listed value.  You may be able to sell magic items for more than the standard 20% by allowing one of the stores to sell it on commission.  There are also "agents" in Ptolus who specialize in finding buyers for powerful magic items or high priced loot.  Member of the Delvers guild get better deals on buying and selling magic items and the guild can put you in touch with an agent. . You may also be able to get a better deal by establishing a relationship with one of the local merchants.

If you wish to purchase magic items, you are at the mercy of whatever the stores have in stock.   If you wish to find a particular magic item you will have to work with the merchants to find it or go through an agent.

  The Dreaming Apothecary holds a virtual monopoly (some might say criminal) on magic item creation.  If you wish to have to have a custom item created you will have to find out how to contact the Dreaming Apothecary in game. 

Training

You do not need to "train" to gain a level.  You character "levels-up" at the end of any adventure where you acquire enough xp to gain a level.

There are many high level trainers in Ptolus. Training with one of them can give you a permanent bonus to a skill or ability.

Character Creation Notes and Changes

Attributes:  I recommend using Method One or Method Two for generating your attributes.  These are described in the Players Handbook on Page 17.  I'd prefer you didn't roll your stats but if you really want to let me know, I'll need to witness your rolls.  

Ptolus Knowledge Skill:  All players have the Ptolus Knowledge Skill in addition to their other skills.  This skill is based on INT. 

Skill Training:  All Characters receive training in one additional skill above and beyond what is provided by their race and class.

Rangers: A Ranger may be an urban Ranger, replacing Nature with Streetwise on their skill list.   A Dungeon Ranger should take Dungeoneering. (Which is already on the class skill list.)

Harrow Elves:  Harrow Elves have the same Racial Stats, Feats, and powers as the Drow.

Dwarves: All dwarves are proficient in firearms.

Religion: Clerics and Paladins choose a deity from the Ptolus World Guide rather than the Players Handbook.  Note that Paladins do not have to be Lawful Good, but do have to have a an alignment compatible to their deity.  A Chaotic Evil Paladin is a different class entirely and not available at this time.  Chaotic Evil clerics must be approved by the DM in advance.

New Races

Cherubim Elves:  

Abilities: +2 Dex, +2 Int

Skills : +2 Perception, +2 Insight

Vision : Low Light Vision

Languages : Common, Elvish

Cherub Elves may fly 8 Squares (40 Ft) as an Encounter Power

Outside of an encounter Cherub Elves may fly 40' at will, A Cherub elf will almost never "fall" unless their wings are somehow restricted or they are incapacitated.   Cherubim elves cannot carry other people or wear heavy armor when they fly.

Litorians:

Abilities: +2 Con and either +2 Str or +2 Dex

Skills : +2 on any two of the following (Intimidate, Endurance, Perception, Outdoors)

Vision : Low Light Vision

Languages : Common, Litorian

Bestial Ferocity:  Once per encounter, when bloodied, a Litorain may use one of the following powers.

Bestial Quickness: Add +2 to speed, +1 AC, +1 Reflex for the remainder of the encounter.

Bestial Toughness : Add +1 AC, +1 Fortitude for the remainder of the encounter and  spend a healing surge.