Game Rules

Common Courtesy and Posting:

Common courtesy should rule at all times. This applies to how you deal with the DM as well as fellow players in all matters, including the rules. For that last part, I consider myself reasonable and expect the players to abide by a DM's rulings even when (or perhaps especially when) the DM is me.

Players are expected to participate as much as possible. They should try to post an action that moves the story forward in response to each and every DM post. This should be very possible, because we are going to gloss over some of the more "boring" parts of normal D&D (e.g., thief scouts ahead, checks one corridor, checks another corridor, finds a door, listens at door, returns, describes what he hears, checks for traps, unlocks the door, ties a rope to open it, gets into position, opens door, while everyone else is standing around). The intent is to have everyone be involved all of the time. Yes, it is true that some encounters will be less conducive to posting, but my rule is going to be that only players who advance the action gets full credit for XP, others who post descriptively but can't come up with an action gets one-half credit, and those who do nothing (or simply posts very briefly that they do nothing) will receive no credit. We are going to reduce the game to only encounters, so things should be moving fast and there's no room for lurkers and stragglers.

Characters are expected to be elite ninja squad in the vein of popular culture. As such, extreme fighting prowess, spellcasting, etc. are all expected to be prevalent. Nonetheless, players are required to take at least one level in the ninja class (from Complete Adventurer). Being one of the recognizably worst standard classes in D&D3.5e, each level of the ninja class gets players special bonuses. As members of the ninja organization, the more levels of the ninja class one has, the higher his/her rank within the organization. Certain roleplaying perks will apply accordingly. In addition, in any group decision being on voting, each PC will get a number of votes equal to their levels in the ninja class. Finally, it will affect the amount of equipment which the characters can expect to have at the beginning of each mission (see below). Finally, as elite ninjas each character is expected to have some ability to sneak around. A minimum of 5 ranks each in hide and move silently is required.

Characters will otherwise build non-gestalt, 5th level characters with standard PC races on with 32-point buy for attributes. Other races from allowed books must be approved a case-by-case basis. Starting equipment is based on 2,500 gp with no more than 3 magical items. (Consumable equipment is replaced at the end of each mission, but the cost of such equipment is 25 times the stated value.) Up to 20,000 gp of additional personal equipment may be purchased at creation at the cost of 1 point (of the 32-point buy total) in attributes per 2,000 gp of value (for example, one can trade 5 points for 10,000 gp of equipment). Also, clan-owned equipment based on one's ninja class level may be borrowed for each mission. This clan-owned equipment should be kept separate from personal equipment, and maybe traded in between missions. Psionics and psionic equipment are not allowed.

Allowed books include only: PHB, PHB2, DMG, DMG2, selected Completes (Adventurer, Arcane, Divine, Scoundrel, Warrior but NOT Champion, NOT Mage and NOT Psionic), selected Races (of Destiny, Stone and Wild, but NOT of Dragon or of campaign setting), very limited use of Unearthed Arcana (subject to approval), Miniatures Handbook, Cityscape (subject to approval), Frostburn, Sandstorm and Stormwrack. No other books or other sources are permitted.

First and foremost, this will be D&D 3.5e game?albeit slightly modified for my tastes.

2d10 game: Instead of rolling a d20 to resolve actions, players will be rolling 2d10. Natural rolls of 20 are considered to be success, natural rolls of 2 are considered failures. No adjustments to the critical threat range of weapons will be made, although natural rolls of 20 will no longer require a critical confirmation roll. The intent is to create a game where attack bonuses, AC and skill ranks matter more because luck is less of a factor. Hopefully, this helps to offset the natural advantages of spellcasting just a little bit.

Barbarian rage: Each use of rage lasts number of barbarian class levels plus CON bonus.

CON bonus: Characters may go negative CON before they die, instead of -10.

Fighters bonus: Fighters receive a bonus feat at each level.

Hit points: At 1st level, one gets the maximum value of the roll. After that, instead of rolling hit points, the amount is determined formulaically. If your class does not gain any spellcasting abilities for that level (for example, fighter or paladins below level 4), then the amount gained is equal to 2/3 of the hit die (3 for d4, 5 for d6, 6 for d8, 7 for d10 and 8 for d12). If your class does gain spellcasting abilities for that level (for example, bard or levels 2 and up for an eldritch knight), then the amount gained is equal to 1/2 of the hit die (2 for d4, 3 for d6, 4 for d8, 5 for d10 and 6 for d12).

Sorceror spells: Sorcerors take the role of specialty wizards. Sorcerors' daily allowance of spells is set at 1 level higher than the standard table. Sorcerors choose one school of magic and knows three spells of that school at level one and two additional spells of that school at each level thereafter. Sorcerors also learn three spells of 0th spell level from other schools of magic at level one and one spell from other schools of magic at each level. Also, sorcerors are allowed to choose spells with metamagic feats applied to them as corresponding higher level spells without having the metamagic feat.

Specialist wizards: None are allowed.