House Rules and Character Generation

[Stik]

Character Generation

Stats
Roll 4d6, keep the best 3, six times. Then put the numbers in whatever order you choose.

Starting Level
Single-classed PCs will start at the minimum number of experience points to be Third level.
Multiclass PCs will start at the minimum number of experience points to be Second level in both classes (unless the combination of classes prohibits this, which will be handled on a case-by-case basis).

Hit Points:
In the interest of making first level characters a bit more durable, hit point rolls for first level only that come up in the lower half of the range will default to the lowest number in the upper half, like so:
Warrior 6 hp
Wizard 3 hp
Priest 5 hp
Rogue 4 hp
So, if a Thief rolls less than 4 hit points on his starting roll, he gets 4 hit points.
Hit points for additional levels are rolled normally

Multiclassing:
Human PCs may multiclass.

Multiclass characters, human or otherwise, cannot pick more than one of the “optional” classes. (The “Optional”classes are the ones with an asterisk on Table 13 of the PHB).
This means that a Fighter/Mage, or Cleric/Ranger* or an Illusionist*/Thief would be acceptable, but not a Ranger*/Bard*.

Kits:
Kits are only available to single-class characters (unless it’s one of the multiclass specific kits). A multiclassed character should already be interesting enough without adding a kit to it.

Languages/proficiencies:
Additional non-weapon proficiencies can be taken in place of the additional languages granted for high intelligence.

Races:
All six standard races are available: human, elf, half-elf, dwarf, halfling, and gnome. I’d just as soon not see any gnomes and halflings, unless your heart is set on playing one.

Elves are tall and slim. When rolling randomly for height and weight add a foot in height and 40 lbs to the numbers given in Table 10 – Average Height and Weight.

Dwarf females are usually bearded and resemble males so closely that it is difficult for non-dwarves to distinguish them from males. Gender equality is so central to dwarven society that the dwarven language does not even have gender-specific pronouns.

Gnomes are small. Subtract a foot in height and use half the weight from Table 10 – Average Height and Weight.

Half Elves are also tall and slim. Use the human values for height, but subtract 20 lbs from the numbers given in Table 10 – Average Height and Weight.

Money and Equipment:
Since the PCs are starting at third level, it can safely be assumed that they have had a little bit of an adventuring career before the campaign opens. Therefore, the PCs will begin with whatever standard (non-magical) equipment they need, within reason of course. In addition, they will start with cash in their pockets equal to ½ the normal starting money for a first level character.

Armor and Weapons:
Some armor and weapon types will not be available for starting PCs due to the culture of the campaign setting (see the Campaign Background section for more specific information). Weapons and armor considered exotic will be available only to non-humans and to characters from foreign lands.

Chain mail is the most common form of armor in use among professional fighters.

Piecemeal armor rules (as presented in the Complete Fighter’s Handbook) will apply.


Class-specific info
Priests
Edged weapons:
Clerics may use edged weapons, provided such weapons are associated with the cleric’s deity. A cleric of a sea god could certainly use a trident, but not a battleaxe. (The prohibition against clerics using edges weapons is a vestige from the early years of the game, apparently intended to keep the cleric class from becoming overpowered. There is plenty of historical precedent for priests using edged weapons.)

Spells:
Clerics must choose their standard number spells at the beginning of each day. Bonus spells (the ones granted for high wisdom), however, need not be chosen in advance and can be picked at the time of casting as needed.

Cure Light Wounds:
Cure Light Wounds restores 1d8+casters lvl hit points, to a maximum of +5.

Warriors
Weapon Specialization:
Warriors may only specialize in a single weapon.
(The exception is warriors using the Myrmidon kit, or the Gladiator kit, both of which receive the ability to specialize in a second weapon as a special ability).

Because of the current state of war in the empire, the vast majority of human male warriors in the campaign will have served in the legions, or in the militia of a local baron, prior to starting their adventuring career. Legion veterans must take shortsword as one of their starting proficiencies and will start the game having already served at least a three-year term of enlistment (thus starting three years older), but will be entitled to certain benefits customarily extended to veterans. Demi-human and female warriors may or may not have served in the legions.

[Stik]

Combat

Initiative
Individual initiative will be used.
Weapon speed factors will be applied to initiative rolls.
The Reaction Attacking Bonus for high dexterity will be applied to initiative.

Critical Hits:
On a Natural 20, roll damage normally and then make an additional “To Hit” roll. If that roll hits, roll damage again. This does not represent an additional attack but rather that the initial attack has the possibility of doing additional damage.
(Of course, if that roll is a 20, the process repeats. I once had a player roll 20, 20, 20, 18, followed by damage rolls of 8, 8, 8, 7. I looked down at my notes and saw that the creature she had hit, the one which was supposed to be the toughest monster in that particular dungeon, had only 30 hp. This second level fighter had just killed it with a single shot. This became known thereafter as “The Brain Shot Incident.”)

Critical Failure:
On a natural 1, Something Bad happens (fair’s fair, after all). This is pretty much left to the DM’s whim, and depends on the circumstances, but can be anything from dropping or breaking a weapon to the PC tripping and falling down, a weapon becoming wedged in a tree or a wall, etc.

“Strength bows”:
Bows which allow the PC to apply their strength bonus to damage rolls are available. Such a bow must be custom-made for the user by a professional bowyer (having the bowyer/fletcher non-weapon proficiency does not make you a professional bowyer) and costs ten times the price of a normal bow.
Arrows must likewise be custom-made to handle the additional stress of being shot from such a bow (normal arrow shafts would flex too much and not fly true) at three times the normal price.

Crossbows
Crossbows do more damage than indicated in the rulebook, as follows:
Hand crossbow RoF=1/rd, dmg=1d4/1d4, range=2/4/6 (not available to starting PCs)
Light crossbow RoF=1/rd, dmg=1d8/1d8, range=6/12/18
Heavy Crossbow RoF=1/2rd, dmg=1d12/1d12, range=8/16/24

Hovering at Death's Door
A PC brought to negatives loses 1 additional hit point per round until he gets to a number equal to his hit die type at which point he is dead (as in "Go through his pockets and look for loose change" dead).
Healing (normal or magical) can stabilize him and bring him back, but he'll be out of commission for one day per hit point into the negatives he went. Complete rest can reduce this time to one day per two HP.

[Stik]

Two Day "Shot Clock"

In an effort to better manage the pace of the game, there will be a two-day "shot clock" on posts, which is to say that when I request actions from the players, I will wait two days for responses.

If I don't hear back by then, I will assume that the unresponsive player's character will follow along with what the rest of the party is doing, and on the third day will post an appropriate action for the PC as if the character were an NPC.

Obviously in any situation there are a great many possible actions a PC could take. I will make my best effort to keep the character's actions in line with their past behavior.
If the party is in a combat situation and your PC was attacking last round, your PC will continue to do so (unless they're running so low on hit points that I would retreat if it were my own PC).
If the party is in the midst of a peaceful encounter, the PC will go along with whatever the other PCs are doing.
If the party is trying to solve a puzzle or in some other brainwork-related situation, well, the PC will sit there like a box of rocks.
If your PC is a spellcaster, I will not cast any spells unless that is clearly the most obvious and appropriate action to take.

I hope this will not be seen as intrusive - heck, I hope it will not be seen at all. I am just trying to be fair to the rest of the players.

I know real life intrudes at times, but it's not fair for several others to wait around for one person to post, and I think two days is generally a reasonable amount of time to wait.

And if you know you are going to be gone for awhile, please let me know in advance via PM, and also let me know what plans your PC has for the next few rounds or hours or days.

[Stik]

Conflicts between PCs

Just like people don't get along all the time in the real world, the PCs may not get along all the time. This may be a function of goals, alignment, species, class, profession, or just plain personality. Being in the same adventuring party is does not necessarily mean that you are friends. Conflicts may arise.

For the record: conflicts between the PCs are a matter for the PCs.
As long as one player does not attack another player, it's not a matter for the DM to get involved in.

All I ask it that you do not take it to the point where people start quitting the game.

Just be aware, though, that what goes around comes around. If a fighter goes out of his way to be cruel and nasty to a cleric, and later on that cleric decides to cast his last Cure Serious Wounds spell on someone other than the bullying fighter, then hey, what can I say?

One more thing: if a conflict between PCs actually comes to combat between them, the DM will do all the dice rolling required to resolve the combat.
This is intended to keep the playing field completely level and to prevent any hard feelings which might result from players in remote locations not trusting each other's rolls.

[Jenara]

BLANK CHARACTER SHEETS

Attached are my Blank Sheets, We have:

A mage/thief for Patonius (the same sheet I am using for my Mage thief in BL 1)
A Warrior Sheet for Brusen (Bryants Dwarf), and Tempests Ranger.
A Cleric Sheet for "Papa" and Bastian.

They are in Word Format, but zipped so they can be uploaded.
You don't have to use them, just thought it might help!

Mage Thief Sht.zip

Warrior Sht.zip

Cleric Sht.zip

[Frivolous]

Thank you, Jenara.

I've already come up with an ability set and equipment list. Still waiting for the completed priesthood of Cronus details, as they are certain to affect some of my choices.

[Stik]

Details on Cronus are posted.

[Ismaels-Legacy]

Are there specific regional languages or are there the standard racial languages in addition to common?

[Ismaels-Legacy]

Sorry, I just found the info in the Off Topic thread.

[Stik]

This is not an assignment or anything like that, but I just ran across this on dragonsfoot.org, and thought it was really interesting. It's a list of questions, to help you get inside your PC's head.

I have a list of about 20-30 questions that will help build the character. Some are fantasy-ish. Describe the first time you cast a spell. Some are pretty non-fantasy. Like describe a scar, any scar, on your body.

I just asked the players if they could answer the questions. I didn't require all of them to be filled out but I did ask that they at least fill a few of them out in detail, so we have something to build upon.

Some of my players did better jobs than others but they all participated.

1. Describe one meal or type of food your character really likes to eat.

2. Describe one scar—it can be a very tiny one—on your character’s body and how it was acquired.

3. Did you serve as an apprentice in order to learn your profession? For how long? If you were not an apprentice, how did you learn your trade, skills, etc.? Formal schooling? Informal teachers? Self-taught?

4. Describe yourself as someone meeting you for the first time would see you. Race? Gender? Age? Size? Coloration? Attractiveness? Dress? Do you try to emphasize or hide any of these features?

5. Who are your parents? Names? Occupations? Social class? Were they married? Are they still alive? What is your surname? Does it have a meaning? Do you have any siblings? How many? Gender? Older or younger? Are they still alive?

7. How did you get along with your family?

8. What do you love?

9. What do you hate?

10. What do you fear?

11. What is you especially good at? What sets you apart from the rest of the world? A skill? An unusual knack? A certain flair of style or wit?

12. What flaws do you have? Bad habits? Obsessions? Terrible (or embarrassing) secrets?

13. Do you have any enemies? How much trouble do those conflicts cause you? Think about someone you’ve known since childhood, and never gotten along with. What was that person like?

14. If you have any unusual personal possessions, describe how you acquired them. Is their value practical, monetary, sentimental or some combination of these?

15. If you are a spellcaster, describe your first experience with using magic. What were the circumstances? Were you expecting it? If you are a warrior, describe the first time you took a life. If you are a rogue, describe the first time you scored big on a job. In otherwords, describe for me a very important "first time" for your character.


16. How often do you remember your dreams? How much attention do you pay to them? Do they inspire you? Guide or warn you? Frighten you?

17. Are you married or do you have children? Or have you been married or had children. Explain.

18. List at least two goals for the character. At least one of these goals should be one that the character has, while another should be one that you, as a player, want to see developed over the course of the game.

19. What kinds of clothes, jewelry, etc. do you wear when you're not in armor or other "adventuring gear"? Do you have "a look"? Do you dress up (or down) to go out?

20. Does the character have any or did the character have any role models? Describe them.

21. Name the one thing your character has done which makes him the most proud. Name the one thing of which your character is most ashamed.

22. If your character had to quit adventuring for some reason, what would they do? What's your REAL job?

23. How would your friends and family describe your behavior when you’re sick?

24. Who are you still trying to impress after all these years?

25. What makes your character laugh out loud?

26. When and where were you the happiest?

27. What is your greatest regret?

[Jenara]

It's based off an article from Dragon, something I have done for a number of my PCs...
I will do so for Angel later... Will be interesting.