Jan 8, 2023 12:18 am
A while back I opened a thread talking about a concept I was working on. After some time and effort, I think I'm ready to run a starter campaign here in the setting I've been developing with my partner.
The genre: Take the gritty lawlessness of the wild west, but rather than drawing a six shooter, two duelists on the street draw long swords. As they throw back their long coats, they reveal armor plating and holstered shooting irons beneath before they clash. Marauding ogres wield gatling guns stolen from a burning fort, and dragons assault train caravans. Meanwhile, a short kobold with big, round glasses and wearing a nurse's outfit greets you in an office and tells you that the doctor will be with you soon; the patient who came in before you was screaming a lot and is now quiet, so either he's feeling better or he's dead.
This is high fantasy set to the backdrop of colonial America, just after the industrial revolution. Tentatively, we're putting this in the same world as Krynn, only many years after the Dragon Queen's defeat in a land known as Netra, "The Lonely Island". Steam engines, revolvers, canons and saloon girls meet broadswords, spells, and ancient curses. However, while firearms are very much a part of this world, they are not considered to be the most important weapon on the battlefield.
The scope: This will play out to be the first few chapters of a larger campaign we're writing. You'll start with level 1 characters and progress to level 5-7, where your characters will have come into their own and made a name for themselves.
The Game Style: I always put a heavy emphasis on character-driven roleplay, so be prepared to play characters you care about and get attached to. This is not going to be a dungeon crawl where characters have cheap lives and you just want to mess about with new concepts.
Major themes: Because of the genre, casual racism, intolerance, slavery, and exploitation are all definite possibilities. Prepare for things to get as gritty as you would expect in an R rated spaghetti western or an entry in the Red Dead series.
While there are plenty of injustices in society, that's not to say that everyone is morally bankrupt. Even in locations where slavery is legal, not everyone agrees with it. The entire populous isn't composed of lawful evil thugs. Players should feel free to take action because especially in small frontier towns, there won't be legions of guards ready to arrest them for acts of vigilantism. The local sheriff might not even do their job and simply look the other way even if the players break the law for the right reasons.
If the players find themselves labeled as outlaws, they can always try their luck in the wilderness, exploring the uncharted lands of the frontier and seeking their fortune out in its rich bounties guarded by undocumented horrors, and potentially unravel the mystery of the Lonely Island or travel inland, towards one of the huge walled cities in the 'civilized' territories.
While the cities are secure and offer different opportunities, they also have different problems. Decadent businessmen exploit their workers, influence lawmakers, and do whatever it takes to attain more power, no matter how many corpses they make along the way. One city in particular seems to be far more aggressive in its bid to swallow up others under its influence while waging a violent campaign against the indigenous peoples to acquire their territories and remove those who stand in their way. Is there a way for them to coexist? Is there a reason for their aggression? Will the party take a side, or focus on their own goals?
Maturity rating: Will definitely contain mature themes. If things are getting intimate, you may end posts with 'fade to black' to denote a sufficient time skip. What anyone does in their PM's is their business.
The Gamefeel: Because of the time period the setting is based on, the game should feel a little more familiar to players while also, at its core, still feel like D&D. General stores deal in dollars and cents rather than gold coins, but the weapons, armor, and equipment remain largely unchanged. There are still sprawling, dangerous mines, enemy strongholds, and ravenous monstrosities to deal with. Some things will be far more convenient, however. Gathering more general information about a location is as simple as buying a newspaper. In the larger cities, it isn't uncommon to happen upon a public library, and rather than carrying around all their money, characters can deposit their cash in a bank.
Unique flavor: Firearms are handled differently in this campaign setting. They're not a rare proficiency or hard to obtain. In fact, pistols and revolvers are considered simple weapons as far as proficiency is concerned. Rifles are counted as martial only. Shotguns have yet to be invented, however, and gatling guns are less reliable than the ones used in the civil war.
How firearms are balanced to not simply be the best option for every combat situation is part of the setting's lore; a very common domesticated animal called a millwurt, farmed for a milk-like substance that's used to treat clothing for softness and ease of laundering, also infuses even the most rudimentary textiles with a unique property. When struck at very high speed, the fabric will suddenly stiffen and resist tearing like a non-Newtonian fluid, preventing penetration. However, slower objects like melee weapons and arrows hit like normal.
Guns are still effective weapons, but they do far less damage (1D4) unless they're in the hands of a skilled sharpshooter or are of a massive caliber meant for fixed positions. Blasting away at the center mass is more like beating a person to death; getting shot still hurts, but it would take a lot of ammunition or a lucky shot to kill someone in simple clothing.
Against wildlife and semi-intelligent humanoids, however, guns inflict their full damage, though many of the more exotic species aren't easily felled.
Simply put, guns still have their place, but they have to share it equally with the sword, arrow, and wand. As such, the military powers in the setting have returned to wearing at least partial armor and practice archery as part of their basic training alongside rifles.
Are you interested? Holy crap, you actually read all that garbage?
I'm looking for a full party of 6 to beta test this campaign. Some elements might need a little more time in the oven, but I promise to try and be as transparent as possible about things as we discover holes.
Special campaign rules: This campaign is written to work with certain custom rules, abridged here. Full descriptions to follow in their own posts should people be interested.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Life point system: Expanded health system that adds a bit of realism. Gives a small buff to low level characters while giving high level characters a little more challenge.
Rebalanced proficiency: Proficiency bonuses are only granted to creatures that have been professionally trained, and not just handed out to everyone and everything to effectively reduce all AC by 2.
Swarming: When groups of minions attack, rather than each getting their own roll, they combine their attacks instead into one roll and get bonuses to hit and damage based on how badly their target is surrounded, making large-scale combat much simpler and faster.
Formations: Players (and some enemies) can elect to have their party move in formation, preventing each other from getting flanked while receiving a defensive bonus.
Crafting system: A bit more involved than what's currently available in the Xanathar book, with the intention of giving players more incentive to get attached to their favorite gear and have it grow with them rather than dumping it when something better comes along like they're GameStop(timely reference).
Targeted attacks: Specifically targets a part of an opponent's body, but come with drawbacks to keep every attack from being a targeted attack attempt and represents not only the main way guns can inflict their full normal damage on foes in treated clothing, but also offers appreciable tactical rewards.
Stand and Fight: If you chose not to move on your turn, you gain an additional attack action only.
Cheaper Feats: Taking a feat only replaces one of your ability score increases for more character customization.
Ability Score Training: Players have a chance of improving their ability scores in their characters' downtime by spending a considerable amount of money and time on an instructor and attending intense classes. It's just a chance, however. Bad rolls represent your character being distracted, getting accidentally injured, or just not connecting with their instructor. The higher the ability score is already, the harder it is to improve. Cannot raise any ability score past 17.
Custom subclasses: This campaign will feature 3 new subclasses and class balancing for monks, the UA gunslinger and rangers.
Ranger: The Lonestar—manhunter, expert marksman with rifle and bow, and forms a unique bond with a steed for added benefits.
Rogue: The Avenger—a master infiltrator, swift-footed acrobat, and cunning duelist.
Monk: Fist of the Wild—master of the four beast styles.
Also Monk: Way of the Four Elements complete rework. Let's face it, it's garbage.You know it, I know it.
Additional Races:
A new, highly customizeable race to play, the 'beastkin'. Essentially allows players to create humanoids with animal-like features and abilities from a list. These aren't meant to replace anthropomorphic races like tabaxi or kenku or minotaurs, only drop the other shoe and let players pick their animal.
Returning from the War of the Lance, Kender.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holy crap, are you STILL with me?
In session zero, I will attempt to answer all questions you may have for me about this campaign, homebrew rules, new subclasses, as well as set expectations to get a really good feel about whether this campaign (and party) is right for you. I'll also be very open to feedback so I can make adjustments before the campaign gets going properly.
The genre: Take the gritty lawlessness of the wild west, but rather than drawing a six shooter, two duelists on the street draw long swords. As they throw back their long coats, they reveal armor plating and holstered shooting irons beneath before they clash. Marauding ogres wield gatling guns stolen from a burning fort, and dragons assault train caravans. Meanwhile, a short kobold with big, round glasses and wearing a nurse's outfit greets you in an office and tells you that the doctor will be with you soon; the patient who came in before you was screaming a lot and is now quiet, so either he's feeling better or he's dead.
This is high fantasy set to the backdrop of colonial America, just after the industrial revolution. Tentatively, we're putting this in the same world as Krynn, only many years after the Dragon Queen's defeat in a land known as Netra, "The Lonely Island". Steam engines, revolvers, canons and saloon girls meet broadswords, spells, and ancient curses. However, while firearms are very much a part of this world, they are not considered to be the most important weapon on the battlefield.
The scope: This will play out to be the first few chapters of a larger campaign we're writing. You'll start with level 1 characters and progress to level 5-7, where your characters will have come into their own and made a name for themselves.
The Game Style: I always put a heavy emphasis on character-driven roleplay, so be prepared to play characters you care about and get attached to. This is not going to be a dungeon crawl where characters have cheap lives and you just want to mess about with new concepts.
Major themes: Because of the genre, casual racism, intolerance, slavery, and exploitation are all definite possibilities. Prepare for things to get as gritty as you would expect in an R rated spaghetti western or an entry in the Red Dead series.
While there are plenty of injustices in society, that's not to say that everyone is morally bankrupt. Even in locations where slavery is legal, not everyone agrees with it. The entire populous isn't composed of lawful evil thugs. Players should feel free to take action because especially in small frontier towns, there won't be legions of guards ready to arrest them for acts of vigilantism. The local sheriff might not even do their job and simply look the other way even if the players break the law for the right reasons.
If the players find themselves labeled as outlaws, they can always try their luck in the wilderness, exploring the uncharted lands of the frontier and seeking their fortune out in its rich bounties guarded by undocumented horrors, and potentially unravel the mystery of the Lonely Island or travel inland, towards one of the huge walled cities in the 'civilized' territories.
While the cities are secure and offer different opportunities, they also have different problems. Decadent businessmen exploit their workers, influence lawmakers, and do whatever it takes to attain more power, no matter how many corpses they make along the way. One city in particular seems to be far more aggressive in its bid to swallow up others under its influence while waging a violent campaign against the indigenous peoples to acquire their territories and remove those who stand in their way. Is there a way for them to coexist? Is there a reason for their aggression? Will the party take a side, or focus on their own goals?
Maturity rating: Will definitely contain mature themes. If things are getting intimate, you may end posts with 'fade to black' to denote a sufficient time skip. What anyone does in their PM's is their business.
The Gamefeel: Because of the time period the setting is based on, the game should feel a little more familiar to players while also, at its core, still feel like D&D. General stores deal in dollars and cents rather than gold coins, but the weapons, armor, and equipment remain largely unchanged. There are still sprawling, dangerous mines, enemy strongholds, and ravenous monstrosities to deal with. Some things will be far more convenient, however. Gathering more general information about a location is as simple as buying a newspaper. In the larger cities, it isn't uncommon to happen upon a public library, and rather than carrying around all their money, characters can deposit their cash in a bank.
Unique flavor: Firearms are handled differently in this campaign setting. They're not a rare proficiency or hard to obtain. In fact, pistols and revolvers are considered simple weapons as far as proficiency is concerned. Rifles are counted as martial only. Shotguns have yet to be invented, however, and gatling guns are less reliable than the ones used in the civil war.
How firearms are balanced to not simply be the best option for every combat situation is part of the setting's lore; a very common domesticated animal called a millwurt, farmed for a milk-like substance that's used to treat clothing for softness and ease of laundering, also infuses even the most rudimentary textiles with a unique property. When struck at very high speed, the fabric will suddenly stiffen and resist tearing like a non-Newtonian fluid, preventing penetration. However, slower objects like melee weapons and arrows hit like normal.
Guns are still effective weapons, but they do far less damage (1D4) unless they're in the hands of a skilled sharpshooter or are of a massive caliber meant for fixed positions. Blasting away at the center mass is more like beating a person to death; getting shot still hurts, but it would take a lot of ammunition or a lucky shot to kill someone in simple clothing.
Against wildlife and semi-intelligent humanoids, however, guns inflict their full damage, though many of the more exotic species aren't easily felled.
Simply put, guns still have their place, but they have to share it equally with the sword, arrow, and wand. As such, the military powers in the setting have returned to wearing at least partial armor and practice archery as part of their basic training alongside rifles.
Are you interested? Holy crap, you actually read all that garbage?
I'm looking for a full party of 6 to beta test this campaign. Some elements might need a little more time in the oven, but I promise to try and be as transparent as possible about things as we discover holes.
Special campaign rules: This campaign is written to work with certain custom rules, abridged here. Full descriptions to follow in their own posts should people be interested.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Life point system: Expanded health system that adds a bit of realism. Gives a small buff to low level characters while giving high level characters a little more challenge.
Rebalanced proficiency: Proficiency bonuses are only granted to creatures that have been professionally trained, and not just handed out to everyone and everything to effectively reduce all AC by 2.
Swarming: When groups of minions attack, rather than each getting their own roll, they combine their attacks instead into one roll and get bonuses to hit and damage based on how badly their target is surrounded, making large-scale combat much simpler and faster.
Formations: Players (and some enemies) can elect to have their party move in formation, preventing each other from getting flanked while receiving a defensive bonus.
Crafting system: A bit more involved than what's currently available in the Xanathar book, with the intention of giving players more incentive to get attached to their favorite gear and have it grow with them rather than dumping it when something better comes along like they're GameStop(timely reference).
Targeted attacks: Specifically targets a part of an opponent's body, but come with drawbacks to keep every attack from being a targeted attack attempt and represents not only the main way guns can inflict their full normal damage on foes in treated clothing, but also offers appreciable tactical rewards.
Stand and Fight: If you chose not to move on your turn, you gain an additional attack action only.
Cheaper Feats: Taking a feat only replaces one of your ability score increases for more character customization.
Ability Score Training: Players have a chance of improving their ability scores in their characters' downtime by spending a considerable amount of money and time on an instructor and attending intense classes. It's just a chance, however. Bad rolls represent your character being distracted, getting accidentally injured, or just not connecting with their instructor. The higher the ability score is already, the harder it is to improve. Cannot raise any ability score past 17.
Custom subclasses: This campaign will feature 3 new subclasses and class balancing for monks, the UA gunslinger and rangers.
Ranger: The Lonestar—manhunter, expert marksman with rifle and bow, and forms a unique bond with a steed for added benefits.
Rogue: The Avenger—a master infiltrator, swift-footed acrobat, and cunning duelist.
Monk: Fist of the Wild—master of the four beast styles.
Also Monk: Way of the Four Elements complete rework. Let's face it, it's garbage.You know it, I know it.
Additional Races:
A new, highly customizeable race to play, the 'beastkin'. Essentially allows players to create humanoids with animal-like features and abilities from a list. These aren't meant to replace anthropomorphic races like tabaxi or kenku or minotaurs, only drop the other shoe and let players pick their animal.
Returning from the War of the Lance, Kender.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holy crap, are you STILL with me?
In session zero, I will attempt to answer all questions you may have for me about this campaign, homebrew rules, new subclasses, as well as set expectations to get a really good feel about whether this campaign (and party) is right for you. I'll also be very open to feedback so I can make adjustments before the campaign gets going properly.
Last edited January 8, 2023 1:45 am
