Re: OOC: The First Chapter - August 2016
Hi guys.
Wanted to share a thought with you, something I've been kicking around my brain for some time now. I have an idea for a campaign built around a series of one off adventures that is similar to the 1st edition style of tournament play, but with the d20 system, and none of the tournament rules (just has the feel to me of tourney play).
In effect, it would be an amalgam of 1st, 3.5 & 5th edition. Sounds confusing, right? But I don't think it will be - matter of fact, I'm making things easier by streamlining the rules so that you guys can just play.
So what do I mean by amalgam?
Well, first things first, a bit backstory: There's an old inn in an ancient and primal forest that has hundreds of doors that connect to thousands of realms (think Wagner's Kane series where there's always an inn with some greater rede hanging over it).
A greater power runs the joint called Unkulunkulu; he looks like a kindly old black man with deep wrinkles upon his face, a snowy white beard, but missing one eye. He acts as the caretaker of the multiverse. His job is to ensure the balance - not in neutral alignment sense; rather the balance comes when there is more good in the multiverse than evil.
Currently, evil is ascendent throughout the various realms, so Unkulunkulu has brought on sub-contractors to handle some of his lesser problems (for the parties, these lesser 'tasks' are pretty difficult).
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Rules: All realms for this campaign would be medieval/fantasy realms. I'll be using a mixture of rules from 1, 3.5 & 5th editions. The majority of rules will fall under the d20.
For instance: I would retain 1st edition treasure tables along with magic resistance (instead of spell resistance), 3.5's skills and spell library and 5th edition's feats and advantage and disadvantage rolls. Furthermore, I would remove 4 and 12 sided dice, but retain 6, 8, 10 & 20 sided die. There are other alternate rules I'm playing with as well - this is a work in progress. Attributes (strength, dex, etc.) will retain 3.5 bonuses and penalties.
Regarding the game itself, each adventure is a mini-module that typically is not attached to another adventure - in other words, each adventure is a separate event. The party would start at first level; with each victory, the party goes up one level (no XP!). To achieve victory, the party must have at least one surviving member remaining. Failure means that the party has been TPK'd (total party kill).
Before each event/adventure, the party is given a 'key' that will transport them back to the inn once the event is complete. The key is attuned to the party, so if they lose (die), it goes inert. One thing I will be tracking: if a party fails (TPK), a new party takes it's place at the level in which they die. So Joe, Jon, Jane and Jill all go up the hill and get killed by the ogre at level three, at level 4 Tom, Tim, Tina and Tammy take over. Once 20th level is attained, we see which party(s) had the best success rate.
There are no evil party members, though neutral is allowed. The party takes on the role of heroes out to thwart the minions of evil.
Only traditional classes - In other words: fighter, thief, cleric and mage, but with a twist. Instead of paladin, the cleric class skills include abilities attuned to being a holy warrior. Instead of separating ranger from fighter, the fighter will have tracking abilities. Same with mages, who can draw from any school of magic - the caveat to mage is that somewhere in the middle levels (10th maybe) the mage can dedicate himself to one or two schools to the exclusion of others. Rogue will have access to some fighter skills along with some traditional thief spells from 1st edition (i.e. Rogues will be able to back stab with a long sword). Regardless, the key 4 classes still retain a certain identity that goes back to the basic sets that has an old school feel (but still d20).
Characters retain all treasure/magic items.
I know that's a lot of info, please give it some thought, throw out some questions and let me know your opinion. Worst case scenario is that mixing editions is too complex, in which case I circle back to one specific set of rules.
One final thought: similar to the old tournament style modules, the DM takes on the role of both protagonist and antagonist. Part of my job is the usual descriptions of rooms, treasure, etc. However, a TPK for me is a win, so that will be part of the formula as well. Makes it a bit more interesting.
What do you think?
-M-
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:15, Sat 21 Sept 2019.