The Grand Tournament Of Leander (5E)

Just wondering if there will be any interest in a story which starts of during a grand tournament, the tl;dr is champions from around the world have been invited to a grand tournament in a secluded island of Leander which was once a country like North Korea and very hostile to outsiders due to multiple wars over the years, the inhabitants are lionkin, it will be the first time the country has opened its doors to the outside world due to the leaders father dying and the now leader being more progressive to the outside world, more lore and who they fought, etc will be in game

Since the flood gates are open, every race is open even homebrews, any type of character is allowed except the chaotic evils and that type, evil is allowed but a more cooperative evil lol anyway; why you're there? A simple merchant selling his wares, a entertainer hired to entertain the crowds, a champion fighting for his lands, a royal embassador from a far away place visiting for the tournament, a simple pickpocket using his skills to steal money from the masses, anything you can think of you can be, you don't have to be a world class hero or you're typical hero either, backgrounds can be used but I feel like they restrict from what you want to be sometimes, those finer details will be discussed later.

classes and also non-classes, you can start with a class or a non-class, the non-class is for those who are just simple folk, not really trained in combat but can learn there class at a later date, it sounds strange I know but take for example a simple stable boy, not trained in combat, can hold a blade and use it but not really a fighter standard, learns it over time and becomes a fighter learning all the perks as he goes (where you will join up with you're class is determined on you're effectiveness, wizards and such obviously a little harder to balance but I'll find a way) the non-class will get an feat (cannot have two feats if race grants a added feat), you'll obviously pick a class before hand which you want to go into, some stuff will be open where some others won't

If you're a champion you'll be entered into the tournament (cannot die in it FYI), everyone else can spectate unless working, guards, merchants, pickpockets, etc can be working or spectating either choice

This may be a long one off but it might not be, it will not be a one a day post either, I will be writing heavily for this as in long story posts in massive detail, creating multiple NPCs, too many I feel lol but anyway all and any are welcome, if you want a simple character that's fine, if you want something out of left field that is fine, be whoever you want to be, create any backstory you want, you want a polar bearkin champion, go ahead, you want a goblin Royal fine by me or a simple halfling criminal rouge be my guest, everyone is welcome on the island of Leander

Any and all questions or concerns can be brought up, fire away if you have any

Note: if keen interest it'll be some time before it goes up, want to work over the finer details and such, characters can change the game so adaptions will have to be made, concerning me as a DM this will be my first time properly, I have a campaign with a friend here but I love writing, I love the interactions with characters, what people can bring to you're story etc

This sounds like fun. I'd be interested, my question is, are you following gods and lore of the regular worlds (greyhawk, dragonlance, ravenloft, etc.) or your own. I already have an idea for a character, but would need deity information. Thanks and I am looking forward to playing!

I would absolutely be interested in this, but if there's enough interest, I would defer taking a spot in favor of someone who isn't already in a bunch of games.

sounds fun. count me in in the same way as spaceseeker

Oh man, this sounds like a ton of fun! Please put me on the same list as Spaceseeker and Candi. The usual suspects, LOL! :-D

Spaceseeker, I understand but if there's enough interest I may open it up to more than just the usual four players cause it's going to be slow going, I don't want people who want to join feel like there going to be taking up a spot instead of a newer person, if there's like 8 people then so be it, any and all are welcome to join, no matter if you have twenty games going or one
Regular but with different types of races I'm open to new Gods or deities, if you want to make a new one up for a type of human, elf, dwarf, whatever not from the normal cookie cutter style then go for it if it doesn't fit truly you're character, it's just a be who you wanna be campaign, pray who you want to pray too... within reason tho lol

If your ok with beta stuff, I'd love to try a psionic warrior using the mystic. I have s half built Goliath psion I could use, but on the other hand the *idea* of starting as a peasant or beggar and having powers manifest, then learning and struggling to control them also sounds really intriguing to me.

Yeah me too, I'm drawn to the idea of a non-classed character (at least initially). But yeah the mystic is awesome! I play one in one of Biscuitfiend's games.

There's a pdf by Wizards about it so yeah it should all be good and yeah if you want to start as a beggar or whatever that isn't really trained so to speak, merchant who was addicted to unique Unknown potions which manifested into those powers, can even be a champion who tried gaining the upper hand with potions etc, how you get the powers is endless and how you deal and struggle with them too, just don't go blowing up the world lol

How you get the powers/abilities is totally by how well you roll the dice, if you want to be a rogue and fail a lot of stealth checks or miss a lot of rolls you won't be learning as quicker than say someone who rolls constantly high if you know what I mean lol

Great. I'll think on it a bit, this will be fun! I love the idea of starting as less than a heroic character and growing into it. That's really novel for a 5e game.

As a game designer this worries me a bit. It's never fun to not get to do something, and more importantly not to advance, just because you are unlucky. The best systems, to my mind, that use check results as a mode of growth require players to both succeed and fail to grow, or simp,y to fail (I think that's the very best. Because then, if you succeed st the check you get a positive outcome. If you fail, yiu learn something and make progress towards becoming better. Thus, success and failure are positive, but differently so). But, I'll trust yah.

How exactly, if you know exactly, were you planning to handle the non-class characters? Slowly gaining the aspects of your class until you are level 1 I presume, but on what conditions do you gain a new feature / aspect? How do you build a classless character (i expect your hit dice would be based on your declared class)?

I've never liked the idea of just being this hero from the get go, I feel like you have to make up a lot of the backstory where as you're backstory is happening and you're becoming this hero then you're a hero get on with it, if that hero dies early it's not going to really effect you where as if you get that person up to a point where it is a hero then it's gonna suck if you lose it

If you fail constantly you will get that ability but further down the line than others but follow along the class path, I did the example as rouge, if there's two rogues, one passes say three stealth rolls and the other fails three, that person has shown there learnt how to be proficient in sneaking giving them the option of a sneak attack, the clumsy rogue who failed isn't proficient in that art yet, same goes for say a beginner wizard, he knows a few spells to start, if he misses a spell or it fails he's not technically progressing, take real world for example, if I want to be good at something I have to work at it till I'm good enough but when you're on that track of a class you're on it

Example; rogue to level 1 - 10 points
Stealth check pass: 2 point
Stealth check fail: 1 point

It means that you still get points even if you fail, someone constantly failing will be a rogue but will take more time becoming one, think of it as being gifted, learning something new isn't easy, conjuring up a fireball and throwing it takes a bit of skill, you still learn if you fail, I need to do this with me hands, throwing it I need to position myself this way, some may just be like I'm a king of the fireballs and others may be how do I do this again

Everything is class based, if you want a wizard roll to benefit you as a wizard, you won't get the tools of you're specific class until you become that class too apart from stuff you'd already have ie a spell book if you're a wizard etc, you'll have to buy them (but they'll be technically free because it just won't come from you're gold pieces)

The zero-level game has always been a fun way to start a campaign. For D&D5, I'd probably just roll up the ability scores, determine a race, and then choose the character's background details. I'd be up to having the adventure itself determine the class path, as in the classic old zero-level modules. Does that work for you, or do you need us to choose a class that we're working towards?

You can start that way if you want to and decide down the line what class you want to be, I don't know how you will become a class tho and where you will fall as a true non-class tho

Here are two arguments for switching it up and making failures 2 points and successes 1 point:

1) You're thinking of skill checks as tests not learning experiences. In a test success demonstrates that you have a capacity. While in a learning experience, what you learn depends on how the experience went and how you reflect on it. You learn more from failing (and reflecting on why you failed) than from succeeded (and reflecting on why you succeed). If your aim is to represent learning, failure should be 2 points, and success 1 point. Reaching 10 points represents having obtained a capacity or proficiency. At that point you could now pass a test (which is why you now have the new ability which makes it easier for you going forward).

2) From a player psychology perspective, using this kind of advancement system gives you a unique opportunity to make failures feel less awful. Normally in D&D 5e, failing a check or attack roll is the worst possible outcome. The result is either you achieve nothing (or, on a skill check, probably you have lost progress). If advancement is more heavily weighed on failures, then failures (paradoxically) become exciting (but in a different way from successes).

My expectation would be that, as someone who isn't starting as an adventurer, I would find a circumstance (monsters escaping, enemy attack, needing to retrieve a stolen item, needing to find a cure, etc) that would drive me to adventure in the role playing. In trying to deal with those issues, I would come into contact with NPCs who would inspire me with their abilities, and early in the game I would choose one to emulate...and that would be my class choice. Alternatively, an NPC could observe my character attempting something and could approach me with tips...a bit like the way factions work in all the official D&D5 adventure material, except that instead of a representative of the Harper's approaching, it would be a representative of the Holy Warriors Of Selune (representing paladins), for example.

I realize that this approach is complicated for certain classes like a warlock, because it wouldn't be a person that approaches the PC, it would be some sort of access to a dread pact that would present itself: finding a Dread Ring, reading a book of forbidden lore, accidentally dropping into a ritual, that sort of thing. Or maybe in your world, warlocks do recruit fresh blood for their masters!

Just to piggy-back here: I both agree with Candi (I make a system of learning from failure available in Skyrealms of Jorune) and at the same time feel cautious because it feels like this is the tip of a much larger iceberg in D&D5...

Really my one complaint about how D&D5 works: there is no way for PCs to increase skills or learn new ones in the unmodified game. If you choose to allow the optional feats rule, then a player can choose to take the new skills feat every four levels, but that's the only way to learn new abilities (and that's somewhat broken - I'm either proficient in a skill or unskilled; there's no way for me to be moderately better at a skill). The points system you have described (or the variant Candi suggests) feels like it could be expanded as a way to address that. Certainly as a player, I'd want to continue to unlock class abilities through succeeding/failing to use those abilities (ie, practice) even after I got to level 1. But it then begs the question: why couldn't you learn skills not related to your class in the same way?

I love this idea. I'm not experienced in 5th but I would learn.

It seems like the non-class brings up real issues within the game itself, there's countless was too do it but then countless issues with how to do it

Being a new person to dnd in general and bringing in something that's not in, if everyone can agree on a way for non-class to work then I'd happily do any that works
There's people in a lot of dnd and everything here so you'll learn, if you have any issues you can just ask

Sure sure. I mean, I played years and years of 3.0/3.5 and 4th, just haven't gotten on that 5th train yet.

To follow up on this question a bit: Where is the setting taking place? A specific realm? Specific place inside a specific realm? I'd like to brush up on the lore before I start concepting a character.

Forgotten realm but this island is pure homebrew and the lore behind it is too, it's very make you're own lore with you're own character if you wish too as well, champions and people are coming from all over the realm

Let me give it a stab then. The easiest way to do it without upsetting overall balance is to replace just the advancement system. So what I propose is meant to be an alternative to XP gain and levelling up. All other aspects of the game will remain the same. Here's what I've got to start with:

Level 0 Commoner
You do everything you normally do at character creation, except you do not choose a class (assign attributes, pick a background, pick a race - gain all bonuses of the background and race you chose). Instead, you gain the follow benefits as a level 0 commoner:

1. Unless you gain a Feat from your starting race, gain 1 Feat
2. Gain proficiency with Padded Armor (also gain Padded Armor)
3. Gain proficiency with one simple weapon (also gain that weapon, if it requires ammunition gain 10 pieces of ammo)
4. You have a +1 Proficiency Bonus
6. Your starting hit points are 6 + Con Modifier
7. You have 0 hit dice

Skill Based Advancement
This system can replace XP gain by extending the rules to cover class advancement more generally. For now, I just describe it with respect to the advancement from a level 0 Commoner onto and to the first level of a Class path.

To advance along a Class path you must spend 5 Advancement Points associated with skills that the chosen class specialized in. Advancement Points are earned when you make skill checks, and also when you survive battles.

Whenever you make a skill check, if you succeed gain 1 Advancement Point in that skill. If you fail, gain 2 Advancement Points in that skill. Additionally, whenever you win or survive a combat encounter, you gain 1 Advancement point if it was classified as Easy, 3 if it was classified as Hard and 5 if it was classified as Deadly. Point earned from Combat are not tied any skill, and may be spent as if they were associated with any skill.

To advance along a Class Path, during a Long Rest you spend Advancement Points. Only points associated with skills on a Class skill list (those that members of that class can choose to be Proficient in) can be spent to advance along that Class path. Once you start on a class path, you cannot advance along another path until you complete the level on the class path you have started. You complete a level when you have obtained all features of that level (then you become "level 1" in that class).

If you are a level 0 Commoner, in your first Advancement you gain a Hit Die from that class and the class skill proficiencies. You also increase your maximum hit points by the value of the hit die minus 6. So if you gain a d8 hit die, you also gain 2 hit points (8 less 6). Your second advancement grants you the rest of the Proficiencies from the class (Armor, Weapons, Tools, Saving Throws). Each Advancement after the second grants you 1 level 1 Class feature. Once you have obtained all Features of level 1, you become "level 1" in that class. Your proficiency bonus raises to 2. At this point you can start using the standard advancement rules, or see the next section for details on how to use this system beyond obtaining level 1.

Your GM should, as you advance, ensure that you acquire the equipment listed in your path's starting equipment. The bulk of this should be obtained before, or immediately after, your second Advancement.

Example: Advancing to Barbarian 1
Jack Rager is a level 0 Commoner. After playing for a while, he has earned 3 points from Combat 5 Points in Athletics, 2 Points in Stealth, and 2 Points in Perception. Jack's player decides to become a Barbarian, and during his next long rest Advances. The Barbarian's class skills are Animal Handling, Athletics, Intimidation, Nature, Perception and Survival. All of hits points, except Stealth, could be used to Advance along the Barbarian Path. So, he spends his 5 points from Athletics for the first Advancement - starting on the path of Barbarian 1 - and his 3 Combat and 2 Perception points for a second Advancement.

The first Advancement grants a d12 hit die, so he gains 6 additional hit points. It also grants the Barbarian skill proficiencies and the Barbarian gets to pick two from its list. He picks Athletics and Perception as his two skills, after all those are the skills he's been using so he feels that it makes the most sense.

The second Advancement grants him the Armor, Weapon, Tool and Saving Throw proficiencies. He looks forward to the opportunity to acquire some medium armour, now that he can wear it, and a shield. A martial weapon, like a longsword, would be a nice upgrade from his dagger. Hopefully he will soon be able to buy, or otherwise acquire these now that he is proficient.

Later on he has earned some more Advancement points, 3 more from Combat (another battle), 4 in Perception and 3 in Intimidation. During his next long rest he spends all 10 points to buy the last two Advancements. For the first he gains the Rage feature and for the second the Unarmored Defense. Now has has all features of a level 1 Barbarian and so becomes a level 1 Barbarian! His proficiency bonus increases to 2 and he's finally finished the Barbarian 1 path.

As long as you cannot exceed the level a original class character is then I don't see that as an issue, the only issue is if everyone is a non-class character then the person who rolls worst will level into classes easier then someone who rolls better but saying that if I count EXP from battles and keep them at normal and everyone levels (if they have points to spend) when they can

But that's better than the opposite, where someone who rolls well ALSO levels faster. In the case you describe, the person who is levelling into their class more slowly is also succeeding on the tasks they set out to do - they are achieving things.

If it's "if you got the points you can spend them to level up" then that'll be an issue, if you can get to level one just before someone else who is a non-class that's fine but if you can get to level two before a class character then it'll be a issue, when the class character gets to level two then everyone else if they have the points can proceed to level two, it's a balancing issue of making sure everyone can be on the same level, the XP is higher so the points needed will be higher and that'll either be unfair on one or the other

Pre- or post-Spellplague?

Not read into the lore of the forgotten realms, new to dnd but I know it's through editions so I need to brush up on it but whenever all things where fine lol I sound totally newbish but I am lol

Any kind of skill based system will have a problem with differential advancement. The cleanest way to resolve the problem I can see is this:

1) Skill-based progression stops at level 1, and then you advance using XP as normal. Prior to level 1 you still collect XP but can't level up with it until you reach level 1 (this ensures that no-class, and level 1 characters are all on a par; it's just no-class characters need to reach level 1 first, and for the extra work they get a bonus feat).

Also, if you wanted to use the skill-based system instead of XP entirely, my thinking was that the number of points required to gain an Advancement is equal to 5 (or whatever the baseline is) + your current level*2 (so as you level up, it takes longer to gain more levels). That will keep characters more close together (but doesn't prohibit the possibility of differential advancement).

It'll be a pretty important distinction for anyone concerned with tying a character to the lore of Forgotten Realms. Post-Spellplague (4th and 5th edition) is a reasonably different setting from Pre- (3rd edition and previous). The Spellplague is the vehicle they used to introduce racial and cosmological changes to the setting. If it's a 5th edition game it'd probably be worthwhile to go with the current timeline, as switching to Pre-spellplague might rule out certain character options, again assuming it's someone trying to work within the Forgotten Realms lore.

I think a 5+level will be quiet easy to bypass the class characters so I think more would need to be added, so a non-class starts at 0, class starts at 1, it's easier for class to get to level 2 before non gets from zero to one, it's more than likely they will catch up to class on level 2 when its close to three, when class is at three then the non-class will literally be behind it, when non-class gets to three it's intergrated fully into the class and will start at the XP and everything that class will be at, it'll be hard to balance out but I think level three should be when you're fully the class, the free ability has paid for itself in being slightly behind through the early learning you're skill game

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The lore will be in line with this edition, I thought that was a newer thing is this edition lol see I do know nothing about lore lol

So you want class and no-class characters to be using different advancements until level 3, but then at level 3 you want them to be advancing at the same rate (from the same starting point)?

The only way you're going to achieve this is if you stop the class character advancement at level 3 (that is, stop granting XP) until all characters are firmly at level 3. Or, otherwise ensuring that there are plenty of out-of-combat opportunities for skill checks so that no-class characters can catch up (because it's out of combat skill checks where they gain advancement but class doesn't). So, it could also be brought into alignment by careful behind-the-scenes adventure design by the GM.

NOTE: My proposed skill advancement system could easily be extended to carry on to level 3 (advancements each add features; just need to figure out how spell systems correspond to 'features'; but I can work it out so that every class is the same number of advancements from level 0 to level 3).

Extending it would help, I think there should be a difference at first from trained and untrained, I can always inflate and deflate overall encounter XP (not stupidly obviously lol) to help not make the class level become too high or add more checks to help along if the non-class is flaking behind

If you're willing to manage the XP in the background to ensure no-classes are 'on a par' by level 3, then the question is really just one of how fast or slow you want no-class to reach level 3. As I proposed the system, by the time they hit level 1 class characters will probably be level 2, but the jump from level 1 to 3 will be faster than the jump from level 0 to level 1, and so they should 'naturally' catch up (with you having to tweak XP based on how things are actually going - as it does, a bit, depend on how rolls are going).

When class will be hitting 3, non-class will be around level 2 and two/thirds, if we will be reaching level three the proposed once you unlocked everything you get the stats will need to be changed otherwise a non will jump from level two to three adding both two and three stats and three skills, so 0 to 1 will get you stats and then you need to get the abilities from that level

Note: need sleep so I'll reply to any comments when I wake up

I'm afraid I'm not following.

From level 0 to level 1 requires typically 4 Advancements, level 1 to 2 will require 2-3, and level 2 to 3 will also require 2-3 - so that's 8-10 advancements in total to reach level 3.

There are no skills added after level 1 (that's a feature of 5th Edition; with the exception of classes like Rogue and Bard that have specific class features that grant additional skills, no one gains skills after level 1). After level 1 it's just class features (such as more spells per day, more spells known, improved rage, the rogues' Expertise feature, etc..)

I got my wires confused I thought it was the last unlock was the hit die and with reaching level three you get a hit die but I was wrong

I think it's best we should cut out the hit die advancement and you automatically get it, so at 0 you automatically get it (people will be super squishy, I understand there non-classes but a few bad rolls can leave the whole crew dead or dying) so say you start of at 9 health, you won't get another hit die till you finish the last of level 1 where you are now a level 2, unless people want a hit die on level 1 instead of automatically at 0, this will cut out 2 advancements so it will be between 6/8 advancements needed (6 and 7 will be adjusted to level of 8) there just need to be a balancing tho as there could be lets say a two on two tavern brawl, you've already gotten 6 points from checks and now you defeat them you would get another 6 meaning level 0 to 1 is a few points off, if that's upped and the group is 6 players stronger vs let's say 4 goblin then that's 12 points from the battle without any perception or stealth checks, if someone goes to a merchant, persuades him, intimidates him and then fights him then that is either 5 or 7 points just for that

I think that me saying when the non-class can level can cut out a lot of the balancing issues, so someone can have unlocked everything for level one but aren't level one yet and cannot work towards level 2 stuff but there points still accumulate, so X player could have 5 points left over and grab something from level two, if I need to lower or up the level of points needing to go along, it won't be a solely my decision as it effects everyone

I'm just disappointed that no one has thought of a streamlined way of starting at zero for 5e yet

Anymore questions from anyone else (not butting in on a discussion lol) just ask away or if you have a race that needs a once look over then I'll be happy to check it out, PMs are also welcome

Small note: if everyone picks non-class then we can just go XP option and everyone levels together

Since you're open to homebrews, I'm thinking about submitting my homebrew half-man-half-horse (a tikbalang, which is like a reverse centaur). But excited about zero level as well! Decisions, decisions!

Then again, I could do both, couldn't I a non-classed character with a homebrewed race? Assuming the homebrew is approved, of course!

Yes you can be non-class and homebrew, you just need a reason to be there hell you can be a champion for you're race as well even if you're at 0 but you may not fair well lol

But yeah a homemade homebrew will need a lot at, I looked up werehorses (which it pretty much is without the were-ness lol) but there wasn't really anything

That's why I gave no-classers a d6 for hit points (but no hit die, so it's straight to long rest to recover from combat). A 6 base hit points is the bare minimum, they are as squishy as a Wizard (whose not THAT much more squishy than a d10, with 4 hit points more; both can be killed by one good attack at level 1; welcome to level 1!). Then, the first Advancement 'upgrades' your hit die to that of your class. That was, mostly, to help allow what Spaceseeker described (not having a predetermined class path, and basing it on story and opportunity instead). In order to grant a hit die automatically at level 0, players have to decide on class path at creation (which I agree, is a good idea - the way I introduced new players to 5e when my party is a higher level is they make a character that is level 1; but I grant them hit dice, hit points and proficiency bonuses matching the level the party is at).
It might be that my numbers for points from battles are off, it depends on how battle-heavy the game is going to be. Lots of fighting? Probably cut Hard and Difficulty by 1 point each (or increase the point threshold for Advancement to 7).

EDIT: Also, you misunderstand how many points combat grants. 4 goblins against a party of 6 is an Easy encounter. So it grants 1 point. Not 2 points per goblin, it's points PER combat (in the same way XP is awarded per combat). As for the merchant case, probably an Easy encounter as well (1 on 1 even), so again, only 1 point. It's based on the encounter difficulty table in the GM section on the PHB (or it might be the DMG, I don't know I use an app), where it describes how to create encounters.
I'm technically fine with this, as it mimics how I handle Advancement in my 5e games (I don't give out XP, I just say "level up!" after a tough session, or the end of a plot arc. My players level up every 2-3 sessions, basically).
Just deciding on an XP threshold for level 0 to 1? You just as well do that if only some people pick non-class... Being 100-150 XP behind levelling won't, typically, will make less of a difference as the game goes on. And if you really want players to be on a par by level 3, then grant the no-classers 150 bonus XP at level 3.

So here's a SUPER clean way to do it, forgetting all the skill advancement stuff:

No-classers start with -150XP. At 0XP, they become level 1 (all the class, all at once). At level 3, no-classers gain 150 bonus XP.

It's settled on the XP route then but I feel maybe the class has a plus 150 XP so when everyone gets to 1 the class will get too 2 and then at three class will lose 150 and non will gain 150, evening out the feat for starting at one but I don't actually think anyone will pick a class since the prospect of completely new is more appealing and if someone wants to stagger how they learn stuff is totally fine by me, say you're level one rouge but don't want learn sneak attack just yet but further down the line while level one or even level two then that's fine obviously you can't learn higher than what you are tho

Learning by XP also say you need 500 (or whatever it is for level 3, can't remember and CBA to look lol) and there's one thing you get from level three, you make that 250 XP, similar to the points but less messy

The game is up so sign up

I will be allowing more than one character if you choose to want that, husband and wife, brother and sister, Royal and Gaurd, you get the jist

I'd be interested in this for sure. I've had a concept for an arrogant duelist who would feel right at home in a tournament (and could probably use to be knocked down a few pegs).

I know I'd want him to be a Tiefling Warlock (tame in comparison to most of the proposed stuff), but I want to try Devil Pact Melee, so I'd try to make it interesting. :)

I'd love to see this too, blade-locks look really neat (but most players just find the power of other paths too tempting to pass up, ironically :P)

The mechanical concept in my head always takes 1-2 Fighter levels for Dueling style + Action Surge, but I'm not sure when. I guess I'd find out when the character started to see EXP.

If I understand it correctly, I could create a character that doesn't participate in the tournament itself? Would Leander be open to allowing support staff from outside to work in a non-combatant role?

I would like to create a cleric with pacifistic tendencies, not suited to battle, but perhaps accompanying one of the other players as a doctor and healer.

Glad someone is interested in participating in the tournament but yeah since it's open to every race there may be a few surprises, they'll all be level 1 tho so it'll be on a even playing field and if you win you'll get something too

Yes a healer or doctor is allowed and no you can be spectating or selling you're wares or entertainment, it's a big festival where anyone and everyone of all walks of life can be, if you want to be a doctor selling potions or accompanying one of the fighters incase anything happens then sure, a lot of people will be of different walks of life so if someone wants to be a beggar then sure

new to the thread, just skimmed it mostly. has anyone claimed bard yet?

No, no bard yet, what are you thinking of for a character?

still formulating, but I always liked playing bards. you said we're starting at first level? I could be a freshly minted bard looking to find a great hero to tell tales about or to learn more about the glorious life (thinking school of valor). it would mostly be a learning experience and an opportunity for adventure right out of school. I wouldn't be a participant (at least not at first), I would be entertaining, watching, and learning what it means to be great in battle. and maybe I could inspire some of the participants to greatness while I'm there.

and carousing. lots and lots of carousing.....

You can start at level 0 (150 XP to reach level 1, where you will get you're class) which gives a free feat but since you want to be a bard from the get go then sure but yeah you can be and do whatever you want too in reason

Has anyone taken monk yet? I'm thinking of giving Sun Soul a try.

No monks yet, there's going to be quite a few of duplicate classes so it's fine picking whatever one you want

I'm definitely interested. Right now considering Tielfing Wild Magic Sorcerer out to spread the good word of chaos or a homebrewed Loxodon character, possibly Cleric.

What's a Loxodon?

EDIT: Ok, Googled it. :-)

An elephant dude looks pretty good

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8ePY1hvWue6TVptSGZZcUc1dms/view

Link to the info if anyone else is interested.

*This was not made by me, credit in the link

I looked up the person on Reddit and found the post on this, it'll need some tweaking like people suggested in the comments of it