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From Fax Encyclopedicus

Since Thursday seems like it works best for everyone, start date is Thursday, August 23rd at 21:00 EST. Please have your characters ready and maptool version 87 downloaded. =Campaign Log= [[Dark Side of the Sun:Log|Log]] =Prelude= The Azure Line. The Riverland. The Verdant Band. There are many names for the narrow stretch of land in which grass grows, water flows and life may prosper. Dayward from the Line is a blistering desert of ash and clay, eternally cooked by the never-setting sun. Nightward is the realm of darkness and ice. As far as daring explorers could tell, both stretch on forever. For thousands of seasons, it has been so. <br> True, farmers plying their trade on the warmer side of the Line would occasionally extend their fields dayward, as the spring ebb would grant them more territory than they remembered having. And no one can remember a time when refugees did not flee from nightward in a steady trickle every autumn, as the creeping glaciers claimed dwelling after dwelling. The fortune of the farmers always interested everyone more than the loss of the worthless frozen lands nightward of the Line, and so most people would offer prayers of thanks to Holuby, the source of life, for its success in the endless struggle against Pepel, the Lady of Cinders. The refugees, of course, would curse them both, fleeing the slowly advancing armies of Mraz, the Black Marshal, against whom, it seemed, both of the other gods were in full retreat.<br> Those of an academic mind, however, had another hypothesis. For it was said that the in the grand Polar cities - the Floating Palace of upriver and the Gray Bastion of downriver - the gods were evenly matched, and the land there did not move. None, of course, could go past either of the cities, as the vile beastmen and demons who ruled the cities slaughtered even those who wandered near. Artificers built clever instruments of iron and spun glass, and those instruments spoke a great heresy to them - that the world was not a flat stripe, but a sphere, and that it was spinning. After many seasons, the artificers said, the world would turn about on its axis and what was now the domain of Mraz would be ruled entirely by Pepel. For a long time, the best they could hope for was a life sentence in the mines once one of the Patriarchs got their hands on them. That is, until the day of the discovery.<br> A group of foolhardy explorers, perhaps the first in a hundred seasons, set off dayward into the Ashlands. Not a month later, a farmer saw them galloping back, their mules pushed to exhaustion. They did not live long, for it seemed that in their haste they failed to take the precautions necessary to survive Pepel's heat, but they refused to die until they could tell their tale. They discovered a city, they said, standing ruined but proud amid the desert. There could be no doubt, were their dying words, that the heresy of the Great Sphere was confirmed, for in the city they saw statues depicting not monsters, but races of the Line. No sooner had their final breath left their lips that new expeditions were already being planned. That was four seasons ago. This is now. The first of these adventurers have already returned with unparalleled riches and unbelievable tales, and now even the most remote peasant has heard that among Pepel's scorching plateaus lies wealth worthy of empires. =The World of the Azure Line= The world of the Line is a planet that is almost tidally locked to its sun. Its rotation relative to its sun is painfully slow - in all of recorded history, it is only reaching its second "midnight". However, it does orbit diligently, and so there are seasons. Winter marks the furthest headway of the glaciers, and summer marks their furthest point of retreat. <br> Complicated clockwork devices have been built to track the passage of the months between these seasons. The concept of day is foreign to such a planet, but tradition splits each day into thirty hours - ten for sleep, five for tending to the household, ten for work and then another five for cultural and religious events or leisure. Most working families adjust their schedules so that their work and sleep times alternate, and share each other's company in the remaining 10 hours. ==Pepel== The dayward desert of Pepel is a blisteringly hot landscape of dry, cracked mud, coarse sand and grey ash. What life exists here does so underground, with creatures ranging from the tiniest insect to the greatest of sandworms taking refuge in the dirt below to escape the deadly heat. Water here does not normally stay liquid; rare shrubs and flame-retardant dragons suck water vapour from the air and clouds to survive, while their underground cousins fight over subterranean lakes and the blood of smaller creatures. For the first 50 miles into the land, Endure Elements will protect a human, and is not necessary in what little shade exists. Beyond that distance, Endure Elements quickly becomes insufficient protection against the sun, and is effective only in shadow. ==Mraz== The ice-locked abyss of Mraz is perhaps even more barren and inhospitable than Pepel. Creatures here reside among the many peaks, where they can try and catch what little light the sun offers to the remote region. Many melt the ice with body heat for sustenance, and more than one species has adapted to scavenge for frozen bodies in the dark valleys below, where no light reaches. Mraz is the only place in the world where one can see the stars, said to be the glowing eyes of the Black Marshal's otherworldly army. For the first 50 miles into the land, Endure Elements will protect a human, and is not necessary on the tall peaks that exist here. Beyond that distance, Endure Elements quickly becomes insufficient protection against the cold, and is effective only at great heights that still skim some of the sun's rays. ==The Line== The frozen and burnt regions fluctuate about fifty miles as the seasons progress. For another fifty miles, the regions are generally too hot or cold to grow crops in sufficient quantities for civilization to prosper. Between these regions, roughly 150 miles of fertile land resides, crisscrossed with rivers. The flow of water begins from the Chalice, a vast lake on the north pole, flows down the mighty river Azure and gradually breaks up into smaller rivers until reaching the south pole. Because of the small area in which to propagate, vegetation is incredibly dense in the most fertile regions, and life of all kinds is plentiful.<br> Because of the temperature gap between Pepel and Mraz, powerful winds tear through the skies of the Line in the nightward direction. Only a fool would dare fly too high lest he be swept away, but the wind is an easily accessible power source for all sorts of windmills, and its strength is more than enough to pull a sailboat upriver.<br> Though formally, the land is split between a number of Dukes, few can agree on how many there actually are, and what lands they control. Most of the real power resides in the hands of the noble trade families, capable of shipping large numbers of goods and troops along the rivers. ==The Gray Bastion== A massive citadel that marks the end of downriver, the Bastion is home to beastly races such as gnolls and were-men. Due to the relatively sparse water that trickles down to here, these Gray Men take what little of it they can seize through force of arms from nearby settlements, along with goods, livestock and metal. Their contact with the people of the Line outside of these raids might as well be nonexistent, for they do not even bother to send back the corpses of diplomats or those they catch trying to sneak past the Bastion into the unknown lands beyond. ==The Floating Palace== Upon the waters of the Chalice floats a magnificent structure constructed of nothing but, it seems, glass and music. Appearances can be deceiving, though, for this is the domain of the demons, the Blue Men. Unlike the raiding beastmen, they hold the population nearby in thrall, exchanging access to the waters of the Chalice and their marvellous magic for total servitude. Their subjects are happy enough, ensorcelled by their masters, and very often entire communities take off and march into the palace, never to emerge again. Powerful magic exists here that prevents any thought of trying to pass beyond the Chalice and into the unknown lands, and demons of the wind are constantly on watch for the few strong enough to pass through the spell. =The Gods= The pantheon of the Line has three gods, each believed to be equal in prominence to the other two. Though a particular priest may venerate Mraz most of all, he will still pray to Pepel over, for instance, the forging of a holy sword. ==Pepel, the Lady of Cinders== Depicted as a tanned girl-child with short-cropped ashen hair and cracked skin, Pepel is the one-eyed goddess of heat and light. Those who venerate her above the other gods extol the life-giving power of her light, her power to burn away sin and temper steel, and her sense of justice, for all are equal before her brilliant gaze. Her worshippers usually include judges, farmers and craftsmen. Short-lived races such as the orcs also tend to worship Pepel. Pepel is associated with metals, and the colour gray. The Gray Men are named after her colour, for they live in an arid land and are as relentless as Pepel herself. ==Mraz, the Black Marshal== Mraz presides over darkness and cold, and is shown as a wizened old man in a spiked suit of ebony armour. His depictions are always drawn with a shadow, which is dotted with a myriad of tiny yellow specks - the eyes of his endless army. Mraz is the patron of all who risk their lives, and is venerated specifically for his skill at deception, his cunning and his skill in battle. His worshippers include soldiers, adventurers and thieves, and longer-lived races such as elves also tend to worship him. Mraz is associated with gemstones, and the colour blue. The Blue Men are named after his colour, for they and their deep waters are as treacherous as Mraz himself. ==Holuby, the Source of Life== Holuby is never anthropomorphosized, and is depicted as a mass of swirling ribbons of many colours. Holuby stands for trees, animals, water, nature, humanity and life in general, and is venerated by just about everybody for these gifts, farmers above all. The philosophy attributed to Holuby is balance - tempering light with shadow, heat with cold and life with death. Holuby is associated with mud, and the colour green. Humans and half-human hybrids tend to worship Holuby more than other races. =Rules and Suchlike= Tentatively, the game will be the following:<br> * System: D&D 3.5 * Starting level: 6 * Variant Rules: Gestalt, no LA buyoff, no flaws (but see barely-feats below), no traits * WBL: Standard * Ability Score Generation: 36 Point Buy ==Allowed Sources== * All 1st party WotC books and web materials * The following is available only on a case-by-case basis: ** Setting-specific material (Forgotten Realms, Eberron) ** 3.0 and "3.25" materials that do not have official updates to 3.5 ** Magazine materials unless reprinted in Dragon Compendium or other book ** 3rd party and homebrew material (including ACF chaining) All "it's not in the book but the rules say something kind of similar and I heard a guy on the forum say it works this way but never bothered to check myself" calls will be made by me and not you. ==Banned Sources== * Dragonlance * Green Ronin books * Kingdoms of whatever the hell it was called, Kamalur? * Monster Manual 2 ==House Rules== * What's a multiclass XP penalty? What's carrying capacity? What's keeping track of mundane ammunition? Dirty communist lies, is what. * Alignments can eat a dick. If you insist, Chaos is associated with Mraz, Law with Pepel and Neutrality with Holuby. The Good-Evil axis does not exist. All smiting hits every enemy. * If you want to play a monster, I'm not writing you a progression. Anything with no LA is out of the question. You may, however, take LA on one side and RHD/class levels on the other unless your race is particularly hax (clear it with me first). * Exotic Weapon Proficiency grants proficiency with one exotic weapon per point of BAB you have (which improves as you level). * Gauntlets deal unarmed strike damage or their own damage, whichever is higher. * Shadowcaster [http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=3273239&postcount=2 errata] * Manifesting an unknown power from another's powers known is no longer restricted by class lists, but power stones still carry the restriction. * A psicrystal counts as a part of you for the purpose of Confusion and similar effects. * You may delay gaining stances as an initiator until you gain access to a new stance level. You may only have one stance delayed in this manner at any given time. * Conjuration(Healing) spells are now Necromancy(Healing) and are affected by all effects that modify Necromancy or Conjuration(Healing) spells. * Conjuration spells that have [Element] tags (such as Orb of Acid or Force) are now Evocation. ** The exception is Mage Armor and derivatives, which are Abjuration. * Familiars scale with character, not class, level. * Dodge and Mobility no longer exist. Anything that has these feats as prerequisites doesn't anymore. * Flyby Attack, Rideby Attack, Shot on the Run, Spring Attack and Swimby Attack are now one feat. * Call Weaponry is now a standard action. * Two Weapon Fighting turns into ITWF and GTWF as soon as you qualify. * Bows and crossbows add 1/2 Dexterity to damage. * Combined skills (if any subskill is a class skill, the combined skill is as well; synergy from a subskill cannot affect any other skill in the combined skill; bonuses specific to one subskill do not apply to all uses of the combined skill): ** Stealth (Dex) - Hide, Move Silently ** Legerdemain (Dex) - Sleight of Hand, Open Lock, Disable Device ** Awareness (Wis) - Spot, Listen, Search ** Linguistics (Int) - Speak Language, Forgery, Decipher Script ** Deceive Device (Cha) - Use Magic Device, Use Psionic Device * Average HP per hit die, rounded up: ** d4 = 3 ** d6 = 4 ** d8 = 5 ** d10 = 6 ** d12 = 7 ==Action Points== Action points are used by characters to avoid wiping out hilariously when their life is on the line. ===Gaining Action Points=== A character is created with 1 action point. At the end of every session, every player awards an action point to one other player for something impressive that they did during the session (whether roleplaying or in combat). An action point cannot be awarded more than once for a particular action. A character may not have more action points than their level. ===Spending Action Points=== Once per round (resetting as soon as the initiative count goes back around to the first character), a character may spend action points to: * 1 action point: Replace the result of a d20 roll you just made with a 10, before you know the result * 2 action points: Replace the result of a d20 roll you just made with a 20, before you know the result (this is not a natural 20) * 1 action point: Add +1d6 to the result of a d20 roll another character just made, before they know the result * 1 action point: Automatically stabilize at -1 HP when reduced to between -1 and -9 HP ==Barely-feats== Sometimes, a feat isn't really worth a feat. Most of the time, that feat's not really worth a flaw, either. Every third level starting at 2nd level, you get one such barely-feat for free (what counts as a barely-feat is determined by the DM after you ask). You must meet all prerequisites for barely-feats, even if they are other barely-feats. PHB examples of barely-feats include: * All +2/+2 skill feats * Armor Proficiency, Martial Weapon Proficiency, Shield Proficiency * Blind-fight * Combat Casting * Combat Expertise * Diehard * Endurance * Eschew Materials * Far Shot * Great Cleave * Improved Critical (let's be honest, everyone takes keen instead) * Improved Disarm * Improved Feint * Improved Sunder * Improved Overrun * Improved Shield Bash * Improved Turning * Improved Unarmed Strike * Point Blank Shot * Precise Shot * Quick Draw * Rapid Reload * Run * Skill Focus * Snatch Arrows * Spell Mastery * Toughness * Track * Trample * Two-Weapon Defense * Weapon Finesse * Weapon Focus * Weapon Specialization * Whirlwind Attack ==Skills and Languages and Suchlike== ===Languages=== * Ignan and Terran are combined into Dayspeech * Aquan and Auran are combined into Nightspeech * Celestial, Abyssal and Infernal are combined into Bluespeech * Giant, Goblin, Gnoll, Orc and Undercommon are combined into Greyspeech * Dwarven, Elven, Gnome and Halfling are subsumed into Common, which is generally only used by peasants and soldiers * Draconic, Sylvan and Druidic are combined into Ancient, the lingua franca of nobility and academia ===Knowledges=== * Nobility/Royalty and Local are the skills primarily used when dealing with things of the Line * Planes and Religion are primarily used when dealing with Blue Men and the Floating Palace * Architecture/Engineering and Nature are primarily used when dealing with Gray Men and the Gray Bastion * History and Arcana are primarily used when dealing with Dayward creatures and things * Dungeoneering and Geography are primarily used when dealing with Nightward creatures and things ===Craft and Profession=== You don't need to be a spellcaster to take Craft: Alchemy ===Masterwork Tools=== Everything has a masterwork tool if you can make a convincing case for what it actually IS. =Schedulings= {|border=1px align=center ! !!Monday!!Tuesday!!Wednesday!!Thursday!!Friday!!Saturday!!Sunday |- ||Flickerdart (Eastern) || Nope || Nope || Whenever || After 16:00 || After 18:00 || Whenever || Nope |- ||Fiddler (Eastern) || Until ~20:00 || All Day || Before 14:00 || All Day || Before 14:00 || All Day || All Day |- | Malware (Eastern) || All day || After 19:30 || Nope || After 19:30 || After 19:30 || Nope || Until 16:00 |- | jeek || After 19:00 || After 19:00 || After 19:00||After 19:00 ||After 19:00 || After 11:00 || All day |- | NekoIncardine (Relative to Eastern) || After 21:00 || After 21:00 || After 21:00 || '''After 21:00''' || After 21:00 || Nope-ish || After IncGame |- | Valixes (Eastern) || After 20:00 || After 20:00 || After 20:00 || After 20:00 || After 20:00 || Varies || Varies |- | blank row || || || || || || || |} ==Notes== Fiddler note: School stars August 27th, making all weekdays unavailable until ~15:00+homework. ==Character Sheets== * NekoIncardine's character, Kellandra Nightington, Succubus (No classes yet, built skillmonkey): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ar8eumPMwQHmdEdZaU8wZ3NJT3VyYUFOMjFhblR3Wmc * NotPanda's Druid: http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=435290 * Valixes' Warblade: http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=436643 * Malware's Psicarnate: http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=433539 * DW's Erudite: http://www.thetangledweb.net/forums/profiler/view_char.php?cid=62919 * Jeek's Shifter Totemist: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ariklb5kH8NkdG5MUmdJRVhQZ2kxMXlQbGthb1ZpYUE * Mala's Astral Deva http://tinyurl.com/MalaSheet

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