The Concept as it Stands Now...

[Dmitri]

So... here's what the DM is thinking.

I once played in a game that was kinda nifty in a very different sorta way, and would like to try to recreate the general feel and see how a different set of players deals with it. It requires players to take charge of what they want to do, since the DM is not laying out a "quest chain" as much as in other games, though I had thought about using an NPC at the beginning to get things going. We (as a party) were an up and coming group of rascals and scoundrels. The alignment restriction would be evil/neutral only, and if you were neutral, you would have to be OK with being part of a criminal organization and act in accordance.

Play is generally focused on a small kingdom which is governed in your standard medievel fashion. There is a Thieves' Guild that controls much of the crime and such in the kingdom - a sort of medievel mafia. You are a splinter group that has decided to start your own "racket" and work outside the normal Guild rules and procedures. Perhaps you were part of the Guild at one time, perhaps not - that is up to y'all. But the ultimate goal is already known at the outset, and rather simple - supplant the current criminal Guild as the major criminal force in the kingdom by what means you can. Basically you are looking to gain wealth and power like a DnD version of Vito Corleone's family.

Now, a warning - while this probably begins to sound like a tabletop version of Grand Theft Auto, there are certain lines I am not willing to cross. I am NOT looking for pure sadistic fantasy - I am looking for intelligent RP of criminal types trying to gain power. To this end, I simply ask that people use their heads - certain things are simply a little too "over-the-top". The example I am thinking of right off the top of my head is rape. I am personally uncomfortable with RPing such an encounter, and would rather not get into that kind of subject matter. So while I would expect lots of violence, larceny, and otherwise villanious behaviour, I would just ask that PCs refrain from S&M, rape, and other "deviant" (I know this is a relative term, but you all probably get my drift) sexual behaviours.

All that aside, this is a mature game concept, and thus please be prepared for some darker content.

All classes are welcome (except Paladin - I suppose the LG alignment might be an issue) since all can equally participate in this type of work. Bear in mind that at least in the beginning the focus will likely be in a small city, since that is where I am assuming you all live. All PHB standard races are welcome and accepted as well - all of you who know my LGG5 world, rejoice!

As for splat book stuff, I'd just ask that you PM me anything not normal so I know what to expect and have a chance to veto if necessary. Level adjusted races of +1 are probably OK, +2 are iffy, equal to or greater than +3 will be summarily rejected. Oh, and for anyone who has never heard my rant on this topic, the Duskblade class from the PHB2 does not exist.

Anyone with questions, you can post em here so they can be discussed or you can PM me if it's personal or something. This is not set in stone yet or anything, but just an idea that I think may be fun for everyone. If not enough people are into this kind of thing, I will figure something else out.

Dmitri

PS - Oh, last thing... please no character sheet threads yet. I haven't gotten a sub-board up yet for that kind of stuff, and I will NOT be having people roll stats - all characters will be point-buy, though I don't know what system I will be using yet.

Thanx!

Dmitri

[Dmitri]

Well, no matter what type of game I end up running, character generation will be the same. I have sworn off rolling characters, and would like to try a new method here for point buy... actually it is the one out of 4E. This WILL BE A 3.5 GAME, but I like this method of character generation a lot, so it will likely become my standard.

Start with these six scores: 8, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10. You
have 22 points to spend on improving them. The cost
of raising a score from one number to a higher number
is shown on the table below.

Score Cost

9 = (1)*
10 = 0 (2)*
11 = 1
12 = 2
13 = 3
14 = 5
15 = 7
16 = 9
17 = 12
18 = 16

* If your score is 8, you can pay 1 to make it 9 or 2 to make
it 10. You must buy your score up to 10 before you can
improve it further.

Here are some sample ability arrays you can generate
using this method:

14 13 13 13 13 13
14 14 13 13 13 11
14 14 14 12 12 11
14 14 14 14 12 8
15 14 13 12 12 11
15 15 13 12 11 10
16 15 12 11 11 10
16 14 14 12 11 8
16 16 12 10 10 10
16 16 12 11 11 8
17 15 12 11 10 8
17 14 12 11 10 10
18 13 13 10 10 8
18 14 11 10 10 8
18 12 12 10 10 10

I dig it for the fact that you can't get two 18's, and if you even get one 18 you must take a few lower scores. No "god-characters", no "gimp-characters". It also keeps the min-max syndrome associated with point-buy to a minimum, by limiting the number of 8's to one.

(Rincewind take note - you are probably the only person I have ever seen actually roleplay a character with stats like yours. Kudos!)

If we end up doing this, I would like to start at level 2 or 3 for survivability's sake if nothing else.

Now that we have a Character Sheet board up, anyone wanting to build one, please feel free. If you could send me a PM to let me know you plan to play, that would be fabulous as well.

Dave

[Rincewind]

Jul 15, 2008 13:43:54 GMT -5 Dmitri said:

(Rincewind take note - you are probably the only person I have ever seen actually roleplay a character with stats like yours. Kudos!)

Hehe. Yes, well, it's not a big stretch for me RP'ing someone with low strength and charisma, Wisdom is pretty much the only way I well exceed Dr. Freas. Godric, with his sky-high Charisma score, is rather more of a challenge, as I'm not a vain primadonna.

Sounds interesting, I'll PM you some questions later.

[Dmitri]

Starting level will be 3.

So far I have 2 players - I will likely start er up when I get at least 4.

If you would like, anyone playing can feel free to set up character threads in the sub-board.

[Dragonsrule]

Well, I will either go with Rogue or Swashbuckler, if someone else wants to be rogue. This is my chance to really be The GODFATHER. Ok, no Rape, however what about setting up a Brothel?

[Dmitri]

I have no problem with it, though you may have issues since prostitution is legalized - see "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoyevsky and "carrying the yellow card".

Just keep sexual stuff tasteful - everything else in game can be R rated as far as I am concerned, but sex needs to stay to a max of PG13 or less, if just for the DMs Victorian sensibilities...

[Dragonsrule]

I wouldn't want to go into detail. But it would be a sorce of income for our characters. ;D I would run a clean, top of the line, establishment. Fully trained in "all' aspects of human pleasure.

[MjolnirH]

Just human pleasure? kind of limiting our income aren't you?

[Dragonsrule]

OK, bad choice of wording. How about "Personal" pleasure. Of course we would employ, Humans, dwarves, halflings, half-elves etc..., everyone has there own kinks.

[Dmitri]

I will be on vacation Thursday and Friday of this week and not on the boards, so I would like to begin the game the following week if possible. Character sheets can be created in the character sheet thread, and ideas or questions will be fielded up till Thursday and after Saturday.

As of now, I know of 2, possibly 3, players (are you in, MH?) who plan to play, so anyone else who wants in let me know! People can join after the start, but I'd like to make it as clean as possible.

Dave

[MjolnirH]

sure I got me a disrepute I could play

[stix]

I know most of the basics of 3.5 (the stuff on the SRD), but little apart from that.

I'm thinking a tough urban-survivor type, half-elf or human. A little Rogue, some Ranger or Fighter, and maybe club specialization (who doesn't need a club-swinging thug?).

That's just preliminary, though; if anybody else has other ideas I'll gladly make something else to complement them.

[Dmitri]

All right - Stix, MH, Rince, and Dragonsrule are in to start, and I can take others as well when the game is in progress. This concept actually lends itself well to large groups as well as small. When I have character sheets posted for everyone (just need the stats, not backstories, in case people want to be mysterious) I will start er up. Till then, keep the juices flowing!

[stix]

I was checking out the variant classes in the SRD. The Urban Ranger would be appropriate to the concept I have in mind. I might also like to try on a Racial Paragon class (specifically Half-Elf, possibly picking up a level of Human).

Would either or both of these be permissible?

[qui]

I see no issue with the Urban Ranger varient from Unearthed Arcana, with the exception of Hide In Plain Sight possibly - I am thinking it shouldn't be usable in wilderness areas, only in urban areas... but seeing as how that doesn't come into play until the upper levels, I am not sweating it now.

Racial PrCs... send me what skills you'd be picking up as your Adaptive Learner skills from the Human PrC if you take it. I could get twinky, so just let me know what you want...

Otherwise all is good! Starting level is 3, so build away, all!

PS - This is the DM, Dmitri. My wife is Qui, and sadly I forgot to log her out and don't want to retype the whole bloody message, so here is my disclaimer.