METACHAT: The Unburning (D&D5e)

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METACHAT: The Unburning (D&D5e)

Post by Bob the Hamster »

Spoonweaver has declared his wonderful Castle Amber campaign closed. A round of applause for all his hard DMing work!

This is the character creation thread for my new campaign "The Unburning"

I'll be posting a character sheet tutorial in this thread soon, using the D&D 5e sheet tool at http://www.myth-weavers.com/

For now I will say that everybody should be starting off at level 1

We will be using a 27 point-buy for stats. That means all stats start a 8, and you get to allocate 27 points however you like. <a href="https://1-dot-encounter-planner.appspot ... html">here is a handy 27-point buy calculator tool</a>

You can re-roll 1's when you are rolling for HP.

If none of that makes any sense to you, don't worry, my tutorial post will explain more.

Homebrew <a href="https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/5e_Races">races</a> and <a href="https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/5e_Classes">classes</a> are welcome, and you can even make up your own thing, just talk about it here, so we can nerf anything that seems to over-powered.

I'll describe the campaign later, but for character-creation time, everybody needs to be aware of two curses:

The Unburning

Near the mountains, including most of the city, all fire, both magical and mundane is suppressed. Inside the boundary of the Unburning, fire magic fails, and mundane fire is extinguished and impossible to ignite.

Outside of this area, in the plains and desert, fire magic works normally.

The Rain God Curse

This is a dry land, where rain is precious and irrigation is important. All water/ice/cold magic takes up a spell-slot one level higher than it would normally. Spellcasters be warned.
Last edited by Bob the Hamster on Wed Oct 19, 2016 3:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by Newbie Newtype »

Is it okay if I use TreeSheets (a data organization tool) for my character sheet?
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

Oh! I forgot to mention in my first post, there is a bunch of great info at http://5thsrd.org/

That is also the best place to look for the standard races and classes.

How to create a character?

Those of you who already know can ignore this tutorial, but for new players who want to jump in, I'll cover the basics, and emphasise the stuff I think will be most important for this campaign.

class

This is most important. Do you want to be a Barbarian?, a Wizard?, a Monk? Something else?. If you have a character idea, and are not sure what class is the best fit for them, ask right away, and we will help you pick the best match.

This determines what you are good at, and what abilities you have.

race

This only matters a little for gameplay, but might or might not be important to your character's identity.

This may change your base stats a bit, and might give you some minor abilities.

background & expenses

The stuff in the rulebook about background makes it seem vague. Read the stuff on expenses instead. http://5thsrd.org/rules/expenses/

The choices are: wretched, squalid, poor, modest, comfortable, wealthy, aristocratic.

Depending on which of these you pick, I will assign your character a place to live in the city at the beginning of the campaign.

If you pick wretched, you will get a favorite trash can behind a restaurant.

If you pick comfortable, you will have your own house. I'll tell you where it is and how big it is, but you can decorate it yourself.

If you pick wealthy or aristocratic, be aware that I will nerf this and make you facing comparative hard times, or perhaps be out-of-favor with your noble family. You don't get to start with a castle ;)

backstory

Make any backstory you please, just remember that you are level 1, so you haven't done any super heroic things yet. You are an aspiring adventurer, you haven't hit the big time yet.

After the campaign starts and you get your house (or garbage can) you can adjust the end-bit of your backstory however you please to explain why you have come to live in this city.

backstory only matters for your identity. It doesn't affect gameplay mechanics.

...more coming in another post...
Last edited by Bob the Hamster on Fri Jun 17, 2016 6:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

Newbie Newtype wrote:Is it okay if I use TreeSheets (a data organization tool) for my character sheet?
Yes, use whatever tool you prefer. You are not required to use http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets

I just suggested that one because I like it, and it makes it pretty easy to post a link to your sheet so I can see it when I need to.
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

How to create a sheet

Ignore this if you are using something other than myth-weavers

Account

Go to http://www.myth-weavers.com/ and create an account. It is just like a forum account.

Sheet tool

After logged in, you go to http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets

click "Create->Sheet"

Name your character

Make sure "Private Character" is set to "NO". That will allow me to see your sheet when you post a link to it later.

For "Sheet Template" pick "Dungeons & Dragons 5e"

Now your character name appears in the "Sheets" list. Click on the name

Name, Class, Race, Etc

Fill out the top part of the sheet like this:

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/dKBiDhY.png">

Don't stress about the experience. We can talk about that some other day. Just put 0 for current and 300 for next.

(and yes, I know I am mis-using background. For those of you who understand how backgrounds work, yes, you can use them the normal way, but please mention your "expenses" in the background slot too)

Stats

Do your stat-buy over here: https://1-dot-encounter-planner.appspot ... lator.html

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/4CBrUkq.png">

And type the "Score" column of numbers into your character sheet.

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/H9LjSeB.png">

Proficiency, HP, AC, Initiative

Your proficiency is +2. It won't change until you level up later.

Your class determines your HP at level 1. For example a level 1 barbarian gets 12+ their CON modifier

Your AC (Armor Class) is 10+ your DEX modifier. This will change later if you equip armor.

Initiative modifier starts out equal to your DEX modifier.

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/rDyBORM.png">

Saves

Your class will have a list of "Saving Throws". For Barbarian, these are "Strength, Constitution". You put your "proficiency bonus" in the "Save" column for any stats that your class gets as a save.

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/bCJDuZu.png">

Skills (Proficiencies)

You also get to pick some skills (sometimes called proficiencies) from your class. for example, Barbarian can pick 2 from "Animal Handling, Athletics, Intimidation, Nature, Perception, and Survival"

If you see the skill you want on the character sheet, check it, and put your proficiency bonus

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/LbTwiLP.png">

Equipment & Spells

Probably deserves a whole separate tutorial for each, so I'll write about those later.

Other Stuff

You will see there are lots of other boxes on the character sheet. Some of them are for details I am not going to bother to go into yet, and many of them are just notes for yourself so you can keep your description of your character organized.
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Post by BMR »

Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

Using Editor version wip 20170527 gfx_sdl+fb music_sdl
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Post by Master K »

Ooh, a new campaign.

I have a char in the works that I mentioned earlier on.
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Post by Newbie Newtype »

Working on a Paladin (of Pelor). I also need to continue working on the artwork for him.
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Post by RMSephy »

Awesome, here's looking forward to another awesome campaign where we kill BMR's character in the end.

I'll work on a rogue/thief character for this campaign.
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Post by Gizmog »

Still weighing my options, really. I vaguely have an idea for a sorceress, but I might lean bard. Or fighter, or monk or anything really. I suppose I'll see what everyone else does and then try not to step on any toes.

EDIT: Holy crap I just read BMR's backstory. Mr. Froofrums!
Last edited by Gizmog on Fri Jun 17, 2016 7:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

Oh, by the way! If we end up with too many players (like more than 6?), I have tentative plans to split the campaign into two parties, with goals that may possibly overlap and conflict

------

BMR, Kailyn looks great! Here is his house:
Kailyn's house wrote: Kailyn rents beautiful bachelor's flat in the fashionable part of the Temple Hill district. It is on the 4th (top) floor of an exclusive building, and the balconies have views of both the University and the skyline of the palace and temples in the Old Bakak district.

The building is made of old dark hardwoods, with numerous decorative carvings that give purchase to the well-tended climbing flowers that adorn the exterior of the building.

Kailyn does not have enough money left to make next month's rent, but at least he is already payed up through 10-Latewinter
Decorate the inside however you like!

------
Since you will all have already lived in the city for at least a <s>year</s> month (longer if you choose) everybody can make Local Knowledge checks about any part of the city, especially the district that you live in.

Just ask :)
Last edited by Bob the Hamster on Fri Jun 17, 2016 9:42 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Post by Newbie Newtype »

Can I have my character a traveller that had just stumbled upon the city and the problems that arose?
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

Newbie Newtype wrote:Can I have my character a traveller that had just stumbled upon the city and the problems that arose?
Sure, I'll lower the minimum residency from 1 year to one month.

You can be staying in an inn, or whatever. I won't give you lodgings that don't match your backstory.

The main route in and out of the city is via caravans. Small trade caravans run a few times a week. Larger "passenger" caravans run about twice a month. Both can be expensive, but stowing-away in a trade caravan makes travel available to even the Wretched. You can also totally hoof it, but it is a hard desert to cross, and people die doing that. There is a legend about a guy who hiked across the Attobakak mountains from the Hama-Daya-side, but that was like 50 years ago, and you ain't that guy.
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Post by Gizmog »

Is it plausible that someone could've come to the city not knowing about the fire restrictions?
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

Gizmog wrote:Is it plausible that someone could've come to the city not knowing about the fire restrictions?
Yes. You would have had to epicly failed at reading the travel brochure, but it is totally possible.

The curse of the Unburning emanates from somewhere in the mountains, and affects the entire Attobakak mountain range. The city of Great Bakak is the only significant city built in the range of the curse.

The city is right on the edge of the curse, and the curse is slowly receding. The city is divided into 7 districts, and about 1.25 of them are outside of the range of the curse.

The small parts of the city where fire is possible are without question the worst, and most squalid parts of the city.
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