Character creation.

So, a bit of setup: most or all of you will be starting this game holed up in an old oil refinery in the Crimson Badlands, run by local tyrannical warlord Rodney. Now Rodney's not well liked, and he's kind of a reclusive dick, but he keeps the lights on somehow and the refinery's the best shelter for miles around in this desert, even if that does make it a prime target for raids by the likes of Krunch and his small army of goblin bikers.

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Now onto what this thread is for; making your characters. The one ironclad rule I have for this setting is: no clerics, or anything resulting from a direct divine connection giving you your powers. Anything else is fair game, and I do mean anything. PHB material, character options from any of the other official books, Unearthed Arcana articles, maybe even homebrew material if you can give me a really good case for it.

Also important to know is that this setting at the start does not have magic. This won't stick the entire time, but initially everyone is normals(psionics excepting). That isn't to say you can't start as a caster class or with stuff that gives you magic, but you'll just have to wait a bit to use it.

1st level? Should we roll stats, point buy, something else?

Yes, first level, and decide your scores however you like. If you're rolling them, this is the place to do it.

So I'm thinking of this for a character: Grevvn "Red Fist" Qarsk a half-Orc monk who was (or is) a pit fighter/gladiator in one of Rodney's arenas.

You know, I wasn't thinking it was a huge amount of territory, but screw it, the refinery's got a fight club hidden away in the basement somewhere.

I mean can you really call yourself a warlord if you don't have some kind of blood sport? :-P

Whoa...this has a LOT more "tech" than I originally thought... O_O I am going to have to do some thinking in order to find a character concept that appeals/fits...

Define "tech?"

Oil refineries, electricity, motorcycles, etc.

If it makes things easier, most tech isn't advanced very far beyond diesel engines.

Hmm, well let me see if I can think of a character concept that will "fit" the setting...hopefully some kind of inspiration will hit me...

Dieselpunk D&D? *swoon*

I'm building Louvan Fox, an elf rogue. Louvan sees the world somewhat differently from the rest, seeing grand adventure and fantastic magic in the mundane and dreary. He's a swashbuckler out of time; An elvish Don Quixote in the wasteland of Rodney's bleak territory.

What kinds of weaponry are going to be in use? Standard/classic D&D weaponry or more advanced types like guns, etc.?

Both. Guns and explosives exist, but there isn't exactly an abundance of available ammunition for them, so more traditional weapons are the norm.

Starting to get some potential rough ideas bouncing around...crossbow and sword-wielding female barbarian who distrusts "tech" remnants since they seemed to be "linked" to (responsible for) the current condition of the "world"...

How is that sounding?

Will we know each other before the start of the game?

That's up to you guys, though it would likely make things easier.

Sounds pretty cool to me!

This is the character image I am considering using... :)

That is pretty darn nifty

Indeed...when the initial character concept started settling in my mind, my first thoughts were of that particular pic. :)

Character created. Now just to write up the backstory

How are we handling posting of our character sheets?

Just go ahead and submit them on the game's page.

Also, forgot to mention this, we aren't doing standard starting gear, you should roll for gold according to your class (PHB 143). You can spend that gold on anything with an official listed price.

Do we need to show our rolls for the gold in here?

Nah, we'll just go with the honor system in this case. It's pretty much all mundane equipment right now, nothing game-breaking.

Additionally, you can have something from the trinket table in the same chapter.

I approve of this completely. Warforged are cool, bards are cool, everyone wins.

So are their any details you could provide about magic users and divine casters? Did they use to exist and are all gone or did they never exist? For backstory purposes.

In-character, as far as any of you would be able to remember, magic has never existed. Out of character, some stuff happened and magic just doesn't work at all here anymore. Casters that gain their power directly from a deity, like clerics and the Favored Soul sorcerer, have never existed at all.

You mentioned posting the information from our character sheets in the main thread, but this one is the only one I see and I do not seem to be able to find a new thread creation button/link if that is what you had in mind. :(

I think I'm the only one who can make new threads, but just go ahead and post anything for your characters here.

Well, I will go ahead and post how I came up with my character's ability scores. This is the very first time ever that I have used the point buy system (went with the standard 27 shown in the PHB).

01.) Asterisk (*) denotes primary abilities/saving throws
02.) Followed by "ability score bought with points (points spent) + plus score of 1 for each ability that humans get for all abilities"
03.) Then the final ability score (with dice modifier)

*Strength: 15 (9) + 1 --> 16 (+3)
Intelligence: 9 (1) + 1 --> 10 (+0)
Wisdom: 9 (1) + 1 --> 10 (+0)
Dexterity: 13 (5) + 1 --> 14 (+2)
*Constitution: 15 (9) + 1 --> 16 (+3)
Charisma: 10 (2) + 1 --> 11 (+0)

Looks good to me. You aren't going with a variant human?

Actually no, the variant simply does not, and has never appealed to me... :)

Fair enough, standard human has its own advantages.

Okay! So I will be playing a Human Rogue by the name of Jason Alexander. His stats are as follows:

STR: 10
DEX: 14 + 1
CON: 12
INT: 14
WIS: 13
CHA: 15 + 1

In case it influences anyone's choices, I'm also opening up the races from Plane Shift: Zendikar as PC options.

So it's been a quiet week, where's everyone at with their characters?

Mechanically the character has been built, I'm still developing a skeletal backstory but I certainly have enough to play the character, completing the backstory as we proceed and I learn more about the setting.

That would definitely add an interesting twist... :)

In what way?

Well, if I understand your description of the area correctly, it is arid/desert-like, so trying to picture Merfolk running around there was kind of like "whoa"... :)

Ok, Ilori Stormwind is done except for listing her "home area" where her village is at...just waiting for a map of the area so that I can fill that detail in. :)

Okay, obviously Merfolk aren't around here specifically, but they are present in the setting.

VERY interesting... :)

OK, my char is updated with the basic starting inventory. Thanks!

Alright, just waiting on one more sheet and then we're good to go.

Mine is finished, awaiting your approval.

Submit it again, I'm not seeing it.

That's everyone's sheets submitted and approved, so I'll have an intro post up later today.

So to help me out a bit here, Louvan and Dalaran, what are you guys likely to be doing? Just everyday activity for you.

Dalaran is very much a wanderer, he will wander into town, perform for a day or two and then leave. On the road he is very amiable of joining fellow wanderers

Whoops, was looking at my character sheet again and saw that I didn't update my equipment list to reflect only the starting wealth. That's been fixed now.

Okay, getting ideas! It's very likely the party will start out split.

Hey everyone! Just joined, so wanted to say hello. Hello!

I'll be playing Finneas the Meek, a lightfoot halfling bard, who's presently a sort of roaming, freelance journalist, wandering around, collecting stories, filing them whenever he gets to a major settlement. The best stories he also reserves for a book he's hoping to eventually publish.

Right, sorry about the delay, I've been a bit busy lately. I should have the first post for at least a few characters up tonight.

Before I submit the post, who all is still here?

Aye.

Ready and revving

I am still here as well and ready to go... :D

Present

So I accidentally removed Dalaran's sheet from the game, I think you can resubmit it though.

Will do

Here!

Hey guys! So for my class I'm thinking of embracing the setting, and trying to construct something of Tech-styled Ranger hunter/ Sniper. The idea is he forged his own weapon, and as such, is constantly improving it from parts and upgrades, rather than replacing it? Think almost a Warcraft style hunter (with or without pet) with engineering. To balance out the class a little more, i think it makes sense to forgo the magic rangers usually get access to, and making it a more dexterity based martial class?

Secondly, as the refinery is set in the desert, he'll be an Orc/ Half orc nomadic wanderer.. surviving the harsh environment, trading in furs/ pelts/ salvage he has acquired with traders in the refinery.

I think the best frame for the character would be Ranger with firearms instead of bows? However there is a good home-brew gunslinger class on dndwiki that might be suitable or at least good or cannibalising ideas from?

Graeme

Done and submitted. Changed the weapon to a musket too.

I'll be allowing races from Volo's Guide to Monsters from here on out, if anyone wants to play a goblin or something, as well as any Unearthed Arcana options and the Mystic and Artificer classes.