D&D 4e Game, Homebrew Setting, Houserules

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Re: D&D 4e Game, Homebrew Setting, Houserules. (need 2 more)

Postby bac8434 » 22 Nov 2011, 14:51

When you say large personal monetary acquisition, are you saying that within the context of our adventure I should make a large amount of money, or that I should just temper my backstory a little to explain a large sum of money that I have (under the pretense that I've had it since we started)?
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Re: D&D 4e Game, Homebrew Setting, Houserules. (need 2 more)

Postby silarion » 22 Nov 2011, 15:27

I would like to note that my route to extra experience is by far the most likely to get myself killed.
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Re: D&D 4e Game, Homebrew Setting, Houserules. (need 2 more)

Postby Iunnrais » 22 Nov 2011, 20:35

Indeed it is the most likely to get you killed. :twisted: But then, you're already ahead on experience.

And no, I mean acquiring money during the game and setting it aside to pay off your debts. I'm open to alternative suggestions, however-- it just needs to contribute to your character's story specifically, and preferably be something I can point to and say in a particular session "Yep, you did that".
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Re: D&D 4e Game, Homebrew Setting, Houserules. (need 2 more)

Postby bac8434 » 23 Nov 2011, 04:06

Ah, that does make more sense. I'll try to put some more detail into my backstory in order to work that kind of stuff out. If you don't mind, I'm going to take some slight liberties in terms of the setting since we don't have a lot of detail on them, but I won't make any wild assumptions.

Ancor was born into a small community called Uldhaven on the eastern side of the Esterwall Range, outside of the realm of Valacia. His father, Gamsig, ran a successful business facilitating trade between the people of Uldhaven and the dwarves inhabiting the Esterwall Range, particularly with the nearby Dwarven settlement of Duranth.
This was only possible because one of Ancor's descendants, Cargath Goddfelekan, had helped Duranth to repel a Galeb Duhr uprising 18 generations ago. Cargath's surname of Goddfelekan, translated loosely from Dwarven into Common as "Godcarver", was not his natural name, but one granted to him by the ruling council of Duranth in the wake of their victory. The name symbolized not only his proven skill in battle, but also his contribution to the Dwarven people. Cargath passed the surname on to his only child, and it became a family name.
In his later years, Cargath began to lose his sanity. Family members tried to diagnose him, but no cause was ever discovered, and he died approximately twenty years after saving Duranth. Over generations, the remaining members of the Goddfelekan clan began to forget their linkage to Duranth, eventually attributing their unusual family name to some past eccentricity of their descendant, "crazy" Cargath.
Cargath's belongings were passed down as inheritance for generations, but were regarded more often as a burden than as a gift. The man had left behind dozens of journals, many full of ramblings from his later years that seemingly made no sense. It was not until 17 generations later, with the birth of Gamsig Godcarver, that anyone bothered to examine the tomes in detail. Always a curious man, Gamsig discovered Cargath's tomes in an unused corner of his family home, covered in a thick layer of dust, and couldn't resist reading them. Though he couldn't understand most of Cargath's later entries, Gamsig's persistence paid off when he found in one entry the true origin of his family name, and his personal connection to the forgotten city of Duranth.
By this time, Gamsig Godcarver was the last remaining patriarch of his line, and thus the last remaining link to the Duranth. As such, he felt that the rediscovery of Duranth and the restoration of his family line was his destiny, and he set forth to fulfill it at the age of 22. For three years Gamsig searched unsuccessfully, and would have continued on hopelessly if not for an accident. While traversing the rocky slopes of the Esterwall Range, Gamsig was startled by a jumping deer, and lost his footing. Falling into a crevasse, Gamsig hit his head on a protruding rock and was knocked unconscious.
He woke up three days later, surrounded by pale, artificial light. In what he would later attribute to the intervention of Sardior, Gamsig had fallen very close to one of the hidden entrances of the Duranth underground, and was happened upon by a dwarven maiden who had ventured out of Duranth in search of alchemical reagents. Though it would normally have been forbidden for a human to enter Duranth's halls at that time, the maiden had, in her curiousity, glanced through Gamsig's belongings. Flipping through the copy of Cargath's old journal that Gamsig had brought along, the dwarf recognized the name Cargath Goddfelekan as one she had heard as a child, and felt it prudent to bring the man inside for further examination.
Learning of his heritage, the dwarves of Duranth nursed Gamsig back to health. They explained to him his heritage and the debt that they owed to Cargath for his valiant defense of their city. Finding that Gamsig was not harsh, callous, and dim-witted like the humans on the Western side of the mountain range, the Dwarves allowed Gamsig to come and go as he pleased, under the pretense that he not reveal the location of the city to anyone. At this time, the Dwarves were at war with the humans of Valacia, and were concerned that if their location were given to anyone, the Valacians would traverse the mountains in order to reach them. Still, this arrangement proved to both sides' advantage, because Gamsig could sell Dwarven goods to the people of Uldhaven, and the dwarves could buy much needed surface goods from Gamsig.
Gamsig eventually found time to settle down and married the daughter of a sea captain, giving birth to his first son Ancor. He would later give birth to another son, as well as two daughters. As each child matured, Gamsig explained to them their heritage, and gradually introduced them into the Dwarven society that had become his second home. Ancor immediately took a liking to Duranth, and made a number of connections amongst the Dwarven noble families. At the age of 8, and after numerous, rather pesky requests, Ancor was eventually granted the right to train in the ways of the Duranthian warriors, most of whom were Aleithian battleminds. Learning alongside the Dwarven children, Ancor found that he was a naturally talented psionic, and by the age of 16 he was capable of holding his ground against even many of his instructors. Finding that they could teach him little more, the ruling council declared Ancor a Duranthian by blood, binding him to the ways of the battlemind, and to the Dwarven people. Though Ancor had hoped to eventually be able to fight for the defense of Duranth like his ancestor Cargath had, the conflict with Valacia had since ended with a tenuous truce.
At 18, Ancor decided that it was time for him to leave home and make a living for himself. Unfortunately, he had little skill in any practical application, and without the threat of war his combat skills were of little demand. At his mother's behest, he went to work for his uncle on the frigate Victor, as part of a newly established, ramshackle blockade on Valacia. A number of industrious captains had chosen to take advantage of Valacia's weakness by enforcing a strict policy of anti-aggression, meaning that they would attack any Valacian ship built for aggressive action. For a time this provided Ancor with the action (and glory) he desired, as Valacia attempted to fight back against this new naval threat.
Ancor managed to build a name for himself in boarding combat, and even became rather skilled at leading ship crews. After two years, he was given his own ship, the Threshold. Unfortunately, only two months after taking command of his new vessel, Valacia and the seafaring coalition reached a peace agreement, with Valacia agreeing to produce only fishing and transport ships in order to avoid further bloodshed. With that, Ancor's new job became a miserable hell, at least in his eyes. Instead of sailing into battle, the seafarers had become tax agents, extorting money from passing ships and occassionally appopriating useful supplies. As a battlemind, Ancor's dream was to gain honor and riches through glorious battle, not through the management of a tedious naval bureaucracy. As time went on, Ancor and his crew became more and more disillusioned with their position.
Therefore it should have come as no surprise, when the Ascodel crested the horizon, grounded on a sandbar yet in pristine condition, that Ancor would take advantage of the situation in order to escape the hell he found himself in. Sailing closer to the grounded ship, Ancor could tell that the Ascodel was not of human construction. Most evident was the fact that the ship lacked any sort of mast or sail, an extremely unusual sight that peaked Ancor's curiousity. After attempting to hail the grounded ship and recieving no response, he dropped anchor and rowed over to the sandbar to get a closer look. The ship was most certainly stuck, dug deeply into the sand, but it was not evident how long the ship had been there, or how long its crew had been missing.
Looking inside, Ancor found that other than the mess naturally created by the ship being tilted at nearly a 45 degree angle, the interior of the Ascodel was pristine. If he hadn't known better, Ancor would have guessed that the ship had never been manned at all. There were no signs of the ship ever having been occupied, but perhaps it was being towed when it ran aground.
Ancor would have been more concerned by these facts, if not for the distraction of the hoard of treasure he soon located beneath the decks. Crates upon crates, filled to the brim with what appeared to be extremely valuable weapons, armor sets, and jewelry pieces. Ecstatic that he would finally have enough money to escape blockade duty forever, Ancor ordered his crew to load the crates onboard, and set sail for the nearest port city. A few hours later, the Threshold made port in the Valacian city of Kerville, which had a bustling marketplace filled with all kinds of merchandise.
Ancor and his small crew unloaded crate after crate of what appeared to be valuable elven-crafted items, something rarely seen as far south as Kerville. Given the rarity of the goods, and their already high value as masterwork items, the haul immediately drew the attention of the biggest spenders in Kerville, and Ancor managed to offload nearly 60000gp worth of weapons and armor within a day. After dividing the haul with his crew of 9 men, and taking a somewhat larger portion for himself, Ancor walked away with over 12000gp. Hoping to live a life of relative luxury, he impulsively purchased a small seaside villa on the outskirts of town, as well as an enchanted glaive that had caught his eye in the marketplace. With only 400gp left in his pocket, Ancor walked to his new home and went to sleep in comfort.
Unfortunately, his sleep was cut short. Shortly after daybreak, Ancor was awoken by some sort of commotion, and what appeared to be a crowd moving towards his new home. A man came running up the road, waving frantically to Ancor. Arriving a few hundred feet ahead of the crowd, the stranger quickly infomed Ancor that the goods he had sold the day before, primarily to the most powerful men in town, had turned into worthless pieces of scrap metal immediately after dawn. The stranger explained that some of the most powerful men in town wanted his blood, and that most of the Threshold's crew was already dead. Ancor thanked the man for the warning and threw him a couple of gold pieces, whilst simultaneously packing up his meager belongings and preparing to run for his life.
Luckily, Ancor was able to escape Kerville alive. Unfortunately, his crew was not as lucky. Their deaths weighed heavily on Ancor's conscience as he rode north, away from Kerville and the angry mob. However, Ancor's grief was overshadowed by his confusion. Why had the goods on the Ascodel turned into junk, and why had they taken so long to change after being purchased? Where did the Ascodel even come from, and how had it gotten there without sails or any obvious method of propulsion? And what happened to the Ascodel's crew? Those questions remain a mystery to Ancor, who can no longer return to the southern portion of Valacia without balancing his life on the tip of an assassin's blade.
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Re: D&D 4e Game, Homebrew Setting, Houserules. (need 2 more)

Postby bac8434 » 23 Nov 2011, 04:19

In case you don't want to read that novel:

Ancor's ancestors are from beyond the Esterwall range.
His ancestor Cargath saved an underground Dwarven city from a bunch of Galeb Duhr.
Cargath went crazy, everyone forgot about it til 18 generations later.
Ancor's father reunites with the Dwarven city by accident. Eventually introduces Ancor to the Dwarven society.
Ancor talks his way into training with the dwarves, becomes a battlemind there. (This particular clan is made up of Aleithian dwarves, psionic dwarven offshoot.)
Wants to fight to defend the Dwarven city from Valacia to honor his ancestor, but they reach a truce.
He leaves, decides to sail on his uncle's ship to fight Valacia's navy. Succeeds in getting his own ship.
Yet again, a truce is reached. Ancor gets rather frustrated. Sick of sailing for no reason, he looks for any way out.
Finds a ship with no masts or sails grounded on a shallow sandbar. Ship is in pristine condition, almost as if it had never been occupied.
Cargo hold is full of amazing weapons, armor, other goods. Loads up everything he can, takes it to the Valacian port of Kerville.
Sells everything for almost 60,000gp, gives a lot to crew, buys himself a decent sized house on the ocean near Kerville.
Next day, an angry mob is coming towards the house. A stranger explains that all of the amazing equipment has turned to scrap, so the town is out 60,000gp.
Ancor's crew is presumed dead, according to the stranger, and many powerful merchants want to kill him.
Ancor runs like hell to the north, leaving his ship and house behind and hoping to get them back eventually.
Finds a job guarding a sailing caravan heading north, takes it. The rest we've seen.

That worth any bonus xp? :lol:
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Re: D&D 4e Game, Homebrew Setting, Houserules

Postby Iunnrais » 28 Nov 2011, 16:24

In a word: yes. See you tonight...
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Re: D&D 4e Game, Homebrew Setting, Houserules

Postby Iunnrais » 28 Nov 2011, 23:48

Experience Rewards!

Chasing down 4 Kobolds climbing the shaft: 600
Fending off waves of Kobolds: 1000
Climbing the Shaft: 625
Defeating the Kobold about to cut the rope: 150
Melting 4 Crayon Dogs: 500
Terrain Bonus: 125
Escaping the Flood: 300
Quest Progress Reward (Found the Woad Witch): 1000

Total session XP: 4300
Divided between 5 party members (not the battlemind, 5th was a temp player): 860

Backstory Bonus to Ancor (Battlemind): 750
Mercy Bonus to Garron (Rogue): 250


Recap for Battlemind: Heading deeper into the mines, the party encountered a treasure hunter who was being pursued by kobolds, and carrying a sack full of stolen iron ore. Fending the kobolds off, they escaped up the mine shaft-- barely, in the case of the wizard, due to trouble climbing the knotted rope. In fact, the party nearly died to a several hundred foot drop when the rope was nearly cut... but the challenge was overcome. The party decided that the ore obtained would be enough for all purposes, and tried to find the way out-- but mistook the exit shaft and found their way into a room with another iron staff instead, which they promptly pulled. Following this, they continued down the path, eventually finding a hidden area that was boarded up with wood, barred off with iron bars, salted (literally, with salt), and finally heavily trapped (traps were mostly avoided). Proceeding onwards anyway, they ventured into a frozen cave, and climbed up into the room with the dead dragon god's skull and the final iron staff-- which they promptly pulled.

Suddenly, the ice of the cave began to melt, pouring out water at a tremendous rate. Tracing the source of the water up the dead dragon's throat, they found a beautiful woman dressed in white speaking with a three year old human girl-- in supernal. Both the woman and the child quickly vanished in a shower of snowflakes, to be replaced by a pack of strange angry dogs. VERY strange, as they were in fact animated crayon drawings.

Eventually prevailing, the party had to swim out of the caves, nearly freezing to death in the process. And when they got outside, they found a blizzard in progress, with snow pouring down at an astonishing rate. After just one night, the snow had reached 4 feet. After a second, 8 feet. The snow slowed, but kept coming after that, threatening to bury the entire region completely.

After dealing with the warehouse thug boss (Bill) who had attacked them earlier, the party headed to Neris to see what was up. Neris chided them for attacking "His friends the kobolds", claiming they could have just ASKED the kobolds for iron. He also chided them for releasing the woad witch, who would soon bury the land in snow if not destroyed. He warned them of her powers over wind, and her icy flesh, and her beguiling words, gave them a compass that would lead them straight to her, and armed them all with weapons of cold iron.
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Re: D&D 4e Game, Homebrew Setting, Houserules

Postby bac8434 » 29 Nov 2011, 01:14

Sounds like you guys had quite the night, sorry I couldn't be there. I think that bonus XP will bump me up to 3rd level though so I should still be pretty well caught up.
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Re: D&D 4e Game, Homebrew Setting, Houserules

Postby Iunnrais » 29 Nov 2011, 14:48

Items for Sale:

Bottled Naptha, 25gp - Single-use grenade-like thrown weapon. Creates a 3x3 area zone of flames and fumes for 1d4 rounds. Any creature starting their turn in the zone takes 1d6 fire damage. Creatures within the zone upon initial impact may move 1 square as an immediate reaction-- this movement provokes opportunity strikes in both the origin and destination squares.

(Unavailable in Town-- Kobolds can produce this) Bottled Firedamp, ??gp - Single-use grenade-like thrown weapon. Creates a 3x3 zone of flammable gas that dissipates after 1 round. Fire damage dealt within the zone deals an additional 1d6 damage. If the unbroken bottle is targeted with a fire attack, the attack effect is increased to burst 1, adds an additional 1d6 fire damage, and adds push 1.

Thunderstone, 25gp - Single-use grenade-like thrown weapon. Area Burst 1, fixed attack roll +6 vs Fort. Hit: Dazed. Critical: Stunned.

Acid Vial, 25gp - Single-use Ranged Attack. Hit: Ongoing 1d6 acid damage, save ends.

(Not for sale) Pixie Blood, ??gp - Unknown full extent of properties, but does show such an aversion to iron that it can be used for prospecting purposes. Glows in the dark. Speculated (but not known) to be highly hallucinogenic and addictive if ingested.
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Re: D&D 4e Game, Homebrew Setting, Houserules

Postby bac8434 » 30 Nov 2011, 18:28

What sort of weapons did Neris give everyone?
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