Welcome to Genwald

[TristenC]

I am dusting off and shoring up my homebrew world from when I originally began DM-ing.

Welcome to Genwald


The Pitch:
-The PCs are rising heroes [4d6 stats, max hp @ lvl 1].

-2E AD&D Homebrew Sandbox world. The world is large, ancient, magical. There are many undiscovered/untamed places. The Sun Kingdom (European style, Late Medieval Human NG Monarchy) is the basic Campaign area, but PCs can end up anywhere.

-The Sun Kingdom is one of the more advanced cultures on the planet. It bears one coastal border, and lies nestled between Elven and Dwarven kingdoms. Magic use within the realm is partially regulated but prevalent (7 official major towers of Magi). The kingdom has a history of good relations with the demihuman populations nearby, but misunderstandings are becoming more frequent and severe. The long-time ruler, Good King Gregory the third of House Ulfbert, passes away in his old age from complications of a mysterious plague that swept the capital and surrounding areas not five years gone. Now his young son Clarence the 1st, inexperienced, naïve, and uninterested in ruling has been coronated. The 13 Great Houses strive to maintain their footing, while they and the lesser houses cultivate any opportunities to advance their fortunes.

- Trade flows freely with many foreign lands, and the influx over the last few decades has introduced a more unpredictable economic dynamic than previously anticipated. Strange cultures are becoming more and more common to see, as are monstrous humanoids wanting to partake in ‘civilized’ society. Individuals of the more common monstrous races are tolerated on a regular basis if they obey the laws of the realm, (goblins, half-orcs, half-ogres, gnolls, bugbears, etc) and can even become shopkeeps, soldiers and productive members of society.

-The scars of ancient battles of titanic proportions mark the land. Wild magic zones, fantastical terrain, grand adventure, political strife, and even artifacts of wonder await. Choose your part and come make your mark on the world.

-The game will aim for an even mix of Role-play, action and puzzles; emphasizing different aspects at times.

-PM me if interested and with any ideas for the character you’d like to play. Interest and questions can be posted here, but I would prefer character submission details be in pm. The game will not start until after the first of the year. I’m posting this far in advance because I want to give everyone potentially interested a chance to respond, not just those who spot the entry first.

-in a few days I will create the game forum and some preliminary threads.


Other stuff:
-To start I will take up to 6 players. PM me if you are interested. I may take more later. If I have a lot more than 6 players interested (10+), or the mix of characters proposed is not very compatible, I might even consider running 2 separate arcs/groups in the same world.

-Players will be expected to post a minimum of once every 3 days. Most times I check daily or every other day. Inactivity for 3 days will cause a character to be left behind or go into ‘auto mode’. After one week the character becomes a temporary npc, and they won’t be very interesting (follow the others around slack-jawed), and may wander off on their own. I’ll create a thread where players can post any extended absences they anticipate (vacations, illness, extended work things, etc).

-Character backgrounds (once required) should be a paragraph or two at minimum please!. What I am looking for: A peek at the character’s past, Main motivation (how they see the world), Reason for adventuring (even if it is wanderlust), quirks and personality, 2 potential plot hooks.



Specifics:

Ability Scores and starting conditions:
-4d6 for each stat. assign as desired.
-A single 1 pt ‘trade’ can be made between stats. Two trades of 1-pt each allowed for humans, and cannot affect the same stat.
-Point trades cannot take a score over 18. Exceptional strength cannot be ‘bought’ with a point trade (i.e. a fighter trading up to 18 would count as 18 str, not 18/01.)
-Max hps 1st lvl.
-Starting gold as standard plus some ‘free’ equipment related to class/race/background (to be specified by dm)


Races Allowed:
-Humans and all Demihumans from the Complete series [including Drow, Duergar, and Svirfneblin. These have additional xp cost associated, as do others]
-Most races from Complete Humanoid, (excluding: Beastmen, Fremlin, Saurials). Races from CH often have advantages and disadvantages you will be made aware of upon request if you don’t have access to the Complete Humanoid book.
-Other: I may allow additional races evaluated on a case-by case basis, but they should at least be humanoid. Also, no undead (incl half-undead) or lycanthropes. An odd race should be chosen for its RP potential, not as a tool for min/maxing.
-Racial ability score mins/maxes are loosely enforced, but no score can be over 19 even with racial adjustments.

Demihuman refers to typical non-human PC races such as those in the PHB and in the Complete Elf/Dwarf/Gnomes & Halflings books.
Humanoid refers to monsters that have two arms two hands, at least two legs, and stand generally upright.


Alignment:
-Almost anything goes, but stick to the non-evil side unless there is a specific reason not to. Even if there is a reason (and a good one) the character may not be allowed due to game/party balance. If my irl free-time permits I might be able to start a solo sideline, but at the moment I don’t see that happening.
-Certain races may have loose restrictions on alignment. Class and Kit restrictions are more rigid but may not be completely set in stone.


Classes:
-Almost any class is available, including unusual ones such as: Wild Mages & Elementalists (ToM), Psionics (TSR 2117, very rare for me), Ninjas (TSR 2155), Shamans (TSR 9507), barbarian variants (TSR 2148), All kits from the “Complete” series (The PHBR# batch) of sourcebooks are allowed but adjustments may be made. Certain races may be restricted by class, but it won’t be as stringent as the core rules.
-Class ability score minimums are enforced. Racial level caps can be exceeded by earning double experience for each level beyond the ‘cap’.
-Demihumans are not restricted from any Basic class (Fighter, Cleric, Mage, Thief), and may be allowed specific classes not normally allowed to them (Dwarf Paladin or Ranger, etc)
-Humanoids may be (but not always) allowed some version of each class type [Those not normally allowed to be Wizards might be allowed to become ‘Hedge Wizards’. Those not normally allowed to be Clerics may be allowed to become Druids, etc. Ability score requirements for special classes still apply.
-Only ‘Humanoid’ races may take the monstrous classes/kits/nwps provided in the Complete Humanoid book. There are often similar kits for humans and demihumans in the appropriate books.
-Multiclassing is allowed. Generally these follow racial restrictions, but are loosened up for demihumans and some humanoids. Races with life-spans on-par with or shorter than humans Dual Class rather than Multiclassing (any race with an avg max age under 120 yrs would dual-class)


Kits:
-Most kits from official 2e sources are allowed.
-Kits are restricted by: Ability score (tightly), Race (moderately), Culture (moderately)
[There are several house-ruled exceptions to the above, so ask when in doubt.]


Miscellaneous Other important stuff: (the remaining big 16 not covered above)
-Die rolls will be made on Unseen Servant and linked to the campaign. If you are aware of another die-roller that is free and allows links to archived rolls (Such as Invisible Castle did before it went down) I will accept those if they can be tied to a specific character (I know some people prefer not to use U.S. so I try to be reasonable about this). Otherwise I can make the rolls myself if the player agrees to that.

Allowed Rulebooks/Supplements:
The “Complete” series (The PHBR# sourcebooks) are allowed, the Players Option books are largely not used, but I may take certain small bits from them.

Homebrew Rules:
There are several. I will list the most commonly used ones in the Rules post once the game forum is created (such as my method for “Firing into Melee”).

[Nocturno]

Can I get a thread?

I am going to make something, but I think I will roll stats first, and decide what to make.

Oops, you said PM... dang it.

[TristenC]

No worries you can post interest here, but I prefer char details in pm

[ausie]

Test..post

.. I made it..

[Jenara]

Made it? You make it sound like you had to climb Everest to get here.

[TristenC]

Joining the site is difficult from a phone, no drag-drop feature on most mobile browsers...

[Jenara]

Joining the site is difficult from a phone, no drag-drop feature on most mobile browsers...

Ahhh. Been here so long that I didn't have a phone good enough to do that at the time!

[ausie]

Maybe not Evetest, but definitely Kilamanjaro... Lol

Even when i got into a laptop - the annoying drag-to-next column thing wasn't working in Internet explorer, so in despair I tried Edge and it worked.,

I think I have my PC ready - just waiting on Tristen to yay/nay.

Jen - are you taking a Tabaxi ?

[Jenara]

Jen - are you taking a Tabaxi ?

Nope, something different.

[Chris1234]

Tabaxi??
Is that a return trip in a taxi? Or..?

[TristenC]

Cat-people resembling leopards. Jen has a different type of cat-person.