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From Fax Encyclopedicus

Running combat with six level 16 PCs goes on until infinity o'clock at night, so my usual game has been suspended until my schedule lets me do that again. Instead, you get this. =Background= Since the dawn of time, the frontiers of nations have been gateways to the unknown, equal parts terrifying and wondrous. Nations were build up and brought low by their ability to produce intrepid explorers and adventurers capable of claiming choice land in the name of their lieges. No countries managed this better than the Bas-Karakat and the Agan. <br/> The former are now a great empire spanning the northern half of the two known continents, famous for people as hard as the north sea's rocky shores and as cold as steel. Daring to go where nobody else could imagine living, and then thriving despite all odds has made Bas-Karakat a thriving alliance between the semi-autonomous dwarven, halfling and orcish lands. In their tongue, Bas-Karakat literally means ice-blooded, and it is a common joke around southern campfires that if the Bas-Karakat were ever to stop fighting, their blood would freeze in their veins from the cold weather.<br/> The Agan Empire, masters of the south with vast colonies to the east, came by their success through trade rather than conquest. Unparalleled shipwrights and sailors, the Agan wield enormous coffers in addition to their military might. The chief races of the Agan lands are humans and kobolds, though thanks to the colonies, many elves, raptorans and similar exotic races find their way here for good or for ill, and there is no shortage of Bas-Karakat deserters tired of having to go get a torch every time they want to take a drink of water.<br/> The age of exploration has ended, however - between one another, the Agan and Bas-Karakat own or otherwise control all the known lands. The best explorers from both nations have come back with nothing when they've come back at all. The two great nations now turn their eyes upon one another. How hard could those pampered southerners possibly fight, when the only metal they've ever held were gold coins and silver forks? Surely there's no way those northern savages could fight a war without crops to feed soldiers and gold to train new ones?<br/> =Premise= Your reasons for enlisting are irrelevant. The important thing is that you're here now, with a purse of silver in one hand and a sword in the other. Your sovereign, Emperor Ramache II of Agan, had officially sworn you into his royal army not a fortnight ago, and already you are nearing enemy shores. On stealthy ships carrying hundreds of other men, you slip down the Serpent Gulf under the cover of night and magic fog, expected to make and hold a beachhead on halfling territory until the larger, slower reinforcement fleet can catch up. If you succeed, Agan forces will be able to cripple Bas-Karakat naval forces in the Serpent, allowing for stable supply lines and an easy route deep into the heart of enemy territory. For the Emperor! =Rules= * System: D&D 3.5 * Starting level: 2 * Ability score generation: 28 PB (see below) * WBL: Standard, except you do not start with any magical items (like you could afford them anyway); masterwork weapons and exotic materials are fine * UA Rules: Not gestalt. LA buyoff is allowed. All flaws must be approved by the DM. ==Ability Score Generation== Though you start at 28 PB, every level past 2nd you will gain an additional point of Point Buy, which can be applied to your stats or held until you have more. You cannot deduct points after they've been added, so think carefully whether you want to save or spend. Your original 28 PB must all be spent during character creation, and do not carry over. ==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 * Pathfinder (including all 3rd party Pathfinder content) ==House Rules== * What's a multiclass XP penalty? What's carrying capacity? What's keeping track of mundane ammunition? Dirty communist lies, is what. * 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. * All the grafting feats are collapsed into one. * LA counts as HD for the purposes of things that cap at your HD such as Practiced Spellcaster. * 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 * Average HP per hit die, rounded up: ** d4 = 3 ** d6 = 4 ** d8 = 5 ** d10 = 6 ** d12 = 7 ==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 * Snatch Arrows * Spell Mastery * Toughness * Track * Trample * Two-Weapon Defense * Weapon Finesse * Weapon Focus * Weapon Specialization * Whirlwind Attack =Poor Unfortunate Souls= * Red Dog: http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=404940<br>1000 XP * Nine: http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=404881<br>Dead * Umm: http://www.darklingdnd.net/profiler/view.php?id=246<br>Dead * Valixes: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhdvJMQY8Z2idER1VFpvTkhIYThJNHNHTVk0RlpkNFE#gid=0 <br>1360 XP * Geigan: http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=408413 <br> 1360 XP * Fiddler: http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=409265 <br> Dead

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