Sacred Temptation

D&D Crew: Joe is estimating he’ll be ready to run us again once summer hits. I’d like to run a mini-campaign until then. The game would be at my house, with the same time frame as before (once a month, 6 pm start time, first game can be Nov. 3 or Nov. 17).

Premise/Synopsis

• Special ops type team, working together (each character must know at least one other character – friend, relative, spouse, co-worker, former special assignment, former roommate, ex-boyfriend, business partners, friendly rivals, etc.).
• Apart from that, let me know what elements (if any) you’d like to see in-game: city, frontier, jungle, arctic, dungeon, underwater, cave, different plane, zombie apocalypse, super hero style, horror, Harry Potter meets Jaws, Lord of the Rings meets Venom, general type of foes, etc. [No promises, but I’ll try to add as best I can]

Table/House Rules:

• Characters level every 2nd session or so (after the session; no tracking XP)
• No Player vs. Player (no attacking each other, stealing from each other, causing a town to hang an innocent warlock, etc.)
• All dice rolls declared before rolling, and only on your turn
• Escalation Die During Combat: Each round of battle after the first, PC’s & elite/solo creatures get cumulative +1 to attack (up to +6)
• Miss Token: If a PC misses, they gain a +1 to hit on their next attack (cumulative until spent; this will go away if it becomes too much trouble to track)
• Action Points: 1 per combat; can be used for extra standard action (as normal), to roll twice and take either result (declared before the roll), or to recharge an encounter power that missed (after the fact, or course); can have up to two (2) APs at one time, and can use both in the same combat, but not sequentially (so use on the 1st round of combat, then another the third round of combat)
• Immediate Action Rule: If the DM calls on you and you instantly declare your action(s) and take your roll(s), you get a +1 to those rolls (attack, damage, skill, death save, etc.)
• Second Wind used as a move action (Dwarves use it as a minor action, since they originally used it as a move action) (this will go away if it becomes too much trouble to track)
• Rituals: no material component cost; if you use the suggested component cost gain +1 to +10 to the roll (per up to 100 g of suggested component)
• Feel free to reflavor / reskin your race, class, abilities, etc. (No mechanical differences, simply cosmetic differences)
• Magic Items: Keep a list of magic items you would love to find (4-10 items, level 1-8) – when appropriate I’ll have you roll on that list to see what items pop up (email me this list before Saturday, or bring a print out on Saturday)
• Selling Items: unused items are assumed to be sold/bartered for 1/2 the listed value (in the character builder)
• All summoned creatures (spells, class abilities, etc.) have an instinctive attack if not already listed – that way you can summon, they can attack, and you can still do something as well; this may change if it gets overpowering or bogs down combat (if no instinctive attack is listed we’ll create one)

Character Creation Rules

• All characters must be created, stored and updated on my character builder account
• Point Buy for stats (no stat above 18 before racial modification at 1st level)
• No evil characters
• All characters turn on “Inherent Bonuses” (Under the “Manage Character” tab) – no other options should be turned on (Dark Sun, Harper, etc.)
• Every character begins with additional feats (instructions below):
  • Improved Defenses
  • Toughness
  • any one skill training or skill focus (must be level 4 or below)
  • any one expertise feat (must be level 4 or below; generally your weapon type or implement type)
• Every character begins with five total magic items (level 1-5) from this list:
  • arms
  • armor
  • feet
  • implement
  • neck
  • shield
  • weapon
  • (you can pick two weapons or two implements, but no more than five items total)
• Every character begins with one consumable from this list:
  • Coin of Good Luck
  • Four-Sided Caltrop
  • Nail of Sealing
  • Oil of Lasting Flame
  • Potion of Cure Light Wounds
  • Potion of Elven Fleetness
  • Potion of Healing
  • Potion of Resistance (heroic)
  • Potion of Spectral Form
  • Talent Shard (level 3)
  • Vial of Darkness
• Every character begins with an Adventurer’s Kit
• Mundane items you desire (arrows, food, water, coin pouch, knife, etc.) are automatically assumed to be possessed by character

To add additional feats:

• On Step 7: Select Feats (in character creation), click on the orange button at the top of the feat selections screen
• You’ll see Step 7 turn Orange (on the left hand side) and a new green button will be added to the bottom of the feat selection saying “Level 4 User Edit”
• Click on it, and search for your specific feat (heroic tier, up to level 4)
• Once selected, do again (a total of four times)
• You’ll end up with four additional feats + your normal 1st, 2nd and 4th level feats

To search for / add magic items:

• To add these, go to Step 8: Add Equipment in character creation
• Click the tab for “Find Equipment”
• Hit “Advanced”
• Click “Show only proficient items”
• Click “Use level range” and set to “1” to “5”
• Click “Item Category” and select what you’re looking for
• Click “Item Subcategory” if you know what specific type of item you’re looking for
• Hit search
• If more than 300 items appear you’ll see a note that mentions that, and you’ll need to further limit by level, or try a keyword or a subcategory to narrow your search
• Click the “add” button (not “buy”), and equip in the equipment tab
• To add your consumable, type it directly into the search bar in Step 8 – highlight your choice and click “Add” (not “buy”)
• Same for Adventurer’s Pack
• For arms, feet and neck, select “Magic Slot Items”, then the correct subcategory
• For shields select “Armor”, then subcategory of “shields”

Let me know if y’all are up for this side-quest and which start date you’d prefer – we’d need at least three players available. Characters should be fully created a few days before the first game day (so I can verify them and adjust if/as needed).

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo