Ba's Campaign

Who would be interested in playing D&D over the board rather than over AIM? Ba's thinking of running a game, and he wants to see if it's feasible.

It would require people who could post regularly, which shouldn't be that big of a problem.

The major possible problem is handling dice rolls, since there isn't any dice functionality on the board.

Me too, just to try it out.
Maybe the AIM veterans could give us a tip on how to solve the dice problems.
Or one person would be appointed to be the dice roller for all players.

If no other solution can be made, Ba will make all rolls as DM.

Getting a dice roller on the boards is definitely possible. Feasible, however, is another story. Mal is currently looking into it.

i'm in man. there's an option to have the players roll all the dice listed in Unearthed Arcana, i'm sure it could be readily modified to have the DM roll all the dice without much structural change

Player list

Garner: Half-elf Rogue

Om: Gnome Bard

Ben: Human Fighter

Saccharissa: Human artificer

Myn: Elf ranger

Doors: Drazai Wizard

DrunkyMonkey: Gnome Wizard

Roman: Dwarf Fighter

Hsing: Undeclared

Ba is going to give players another three days to complete their characters, then he's going to start. If they haven't finished by the time Ba starts the campaign on Thursday, they'll have to wait until the next time Ba can write their characters in.

If I'm interested in joining in, what do I need to catch up on?

It would probably be a good idea to read through the Brenak Campaign Setting and at least glance through the RP thread. That will give Grace a general idea of the world and what's happened so far. Does Grace know what sort of character she wishes to play? Currently, there are two fighters, two rogues, a wizard and a cleric. Depending on what she wishes the play, Ba may have additional information available to her that isn't available to the other players.

Ba will look to see what he can dig up. For now, a few basics.

Kat most likely remembers the six ability scores, yes? Strenth, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. The higher the better. The modifier based on the ability scores is shown here. Thus, a 12 Con is +1, an 8 is -1, and an 18 is +4.

Now, everything is decided via twenty-sided die these days. To attack, roll a d20, add the attack bonus. If the attack equals or exceeds the enemy's armor class, the attack lands, and then damage can be rolled. If one is casting a spell, one either makes an attack roll, or else they simply make a saving throw. The enemy would roll d20, and add the relevant saving throw modifier. For example, if Dorf the Wizard cast Dominate Person on Zelgrofina the Barbarian, Zelgrofina would roll 1d20 and add her will save modifier. She would need to reach the save for that spell. The save for this spell is 19. Zelgrof's will save modifier is +6. Zelgrof's player rolls a d20, and gets an 18. Almost enough, but not quite, so Dorf ends up in control of the hapless barbarian.

The numbers remain fairly static, so one really doesn't have to memorize that much. For the most part, the DM (ie, Ba) will take care of the bookkeeping.

Making a character requires a roll of the dice. Ba uses a rather high-powered method of character generation (high powered enough that in future games, he'll probably not use it). Roll 4d6. If there are any ones, reroll them once (if they come up one again, Kat is out of luck). Drop the lowest of these four numbers and add the rest (thus, 5 3 4 6 would yield 15). Do this five more times. Katcal has a set of stats. Generate another two sets, and pick the best of these three. Information on rolling dice on the board is found here.

Once this is done, choose a race and a class. A few of the races are somewhat different in this campaign, so be sure to check the Brenak Campaign Setting thread (plus, Ba created the drazai for this campaign). There are also other classes available from elsewhere. If Katcal will go onto MSN, Ba, Garner and Roman may be able to help her make some choices, as well as give her advice on how to play them. All such choices, though, must be approved by the DM. And for now, ignore prestige classes. Those don't come into play until later.

Making a character is reasonably simple. A class has what's called a hit die. This is the die used to calculate hit points. At first level, a player receives full hit points, and afterwards it is rolled. For example, a fighter had a d10 hit die. He would get ten hit points at first level, plus his constitution modifier. On second level, he would roll a d10, take the result, and add his constitution modifier to that.

Saves are determined by class, as Ba mentioned earlier. There are three saves, fortitude, reflex, and will. There are two save progressions, good and poor. Good base saves are equal to 2+half class level. Poor base saves are equal to one third class level. These are always rounded down. So, at level one, good saves are +2, poor saves are +0. One adds the relevant ability score. Let's say that Katcal wanted to play a ranger. Rangers have good fortitude and reflex saves and good will saves. If she had a 14 constitution modifier (+2), a 16 dexterity modifier (+3), and a 12 wisdom modifier (+1), she would have a fortitude save of +4, a reflex save of +5, and a will save of +1.

Base attack bonus is also determined by class. There are three progressions to this, good, average and poor. Good base attack bonus is equal to class level. Average is equal to 3/4 class level. Poor is equal to 1/2 class level. Again, these are always rounded down. Attacks are either ranged or melee. If they're melee, Kat adds her strength modifier to the attack roll. If they're ranged, Kat adds her dexterity modifier to the attack roll. So, the ranger, with a good base attack bonus progression and 16 dexterity, would have a +4 to attacks.

Kat would have skill points as well. At first level, characters can get four times the normal skill points they would have at any other level. It is determined by intelligence. If Kat were playing an elven ranger, she would get six skill points plus her intelligence modifier per level. Let's assume that the intelligence is 13, for a +1. Seven skill points per level. Four times that at level one, for 28 skill points to spend. There are class skills and cross-class skills. Class skills are ones that the class specializes in. They can be raised as high as character level+3, so up to four at first level. Cross-class skills are not normally used by the class, and can only be half as high as class skills, so up to two at first level, and they cost two skill points for one rank, so they're much more difficult to raise.

Kat would also get at least one feat at level one. Depending on the class and race, she might get more. Feats give characters different abilities. They might make a character better at hitting things (weapon focus, which adds +1 to attacks), or they might give them new abilities (power attack, which allows melee fighters to trade their attack bonus for added damage). A list of the basic feats can be found here. There are more feats from other books, so Katcal may wish to consult Ba, Garner and Roman about them.

Classes also get special abilities at each level. At first level, rangers get the track feat for free, as well as getting favored enemy (gives bonuses against certain creatures) and wild empathy (lets the ranger influence animals). Fighters get bonus feats. Wizards get spellcasting and metamagic feats. Once Katcal has chosen a class, others can help her with the abilities.

Once all of this has been dealt with, there's equipment to buy. Each class has a certain amount of money they get at first level to spend. Again, consult Ba, Garner and Roman. Class will largely determine what she'll want to buy.

Weapons determine damage, largely. Each weapon has a damage die, from 1d4 to 2d6. These numbers represent basic damage from that weapon. In melee, strength bonus is added to damage. Half strength for light and off-hand weapons, full strength for one-handed weapons, and strength-and-a-half when wielding two-handed weapons. Two-handed weapons have added benefits when using power attack. Most ranged weapons don't add anything to damage, except for composite bows.

Ba's likely missed a few things, and there are a few more complicated things like grappling, but that's the general gist.

you could read all that stuff ba said, or you could click here: www.playdnd.com

How's Katcal coming along with her character?

I am too, Katcal, so don't worry.

Ba thinks they've waited long enough at this point. Sorry, Katcal, but they're going to have to go on without her. If and when she does finish her character, please PM Ba, and he'll try to work her in.

no prob, man. real life's gotta take precident to this kinda stuff.

hang in there, frenchie.

If Ba were to give a short description of, say, the first two hours at land of our party, and if nothing spectacular was to happen right away, would any of you be ready for a group convo during the week to create some talk and interaction between the characters? I think that might push the game a little. I'm available after 20.00 from Monday to Thursday, ideally.

that's alright. i'll fill in for your characters. it should be simple, i'll just assign numbers to every other player, roll a d12, and who ever has their number come up, one of your characters will hound them mercilessly.

The occasional dialogue should spice up the game, too.

Hey! I am the snea... oops. Dammit.