I mostly run homebrew campaigns. They draw from published adventures, sometimes including entire one-shots, but a lot of monsters and encounters I come up with myself, and start with a major theme and let the players drive it from there. Anyway, I was thinking about feats when I came up with an idea: a campaign where the theme is "creating a tome of feats". With potential for a followup campaign where the next generation of heroes are ones who trained from that tome.
In this world where magic is uncommon, and feats of ability are even less common, adventurers and mercenaries are everywhere. When they go into the ancient forest, many do not return... and when they do, it is often with horror of how their companions were lost. Still, the allure draws many, for when they do come back, sometimes they bring something fantastic... or far stronger than before, even if touched by terror. Nobody hears what happens to those lucky few when they go into retirement after they show the wonders they return with. Then again, few know that many of them have no family who would know if they went missing. Still, the various powers quietly push folk into heroism- for if they were to stop, they know civilization will not survive without the few who defy the terrors beyond the reach of the common man.
This is the world of Midgard. The fey are truly dangerous mysteries who toy with mortals, where dragons are obsessed with their own power, undead bide their strength in secret with immortality on their side, witches seek marvelous pleasures, and haunted ghost towns are best left alone. In this world, liches and dark elves are complete unknown. Dragons and manticores are fables, where one land knows dragons are real for they have chained a live one in their capital as a trophy, while another contains hidden dungeons of manticore experiments. There are many prolific races- humans, dwarves, halflings, orcs, trolls, ogres... most work with each other to survive, though few do so for long. Wizards keep the secret of magic safe from the masses and the power-hungry, sorcerers are truly treated as demon-touched. Elves exist, have once ruled the world, but have all but disappeared, leaving a few and a weakening bloodline of half-elves, now treated as royalty. Gnomes are seen as fey-kin, and are distrusted. Gods lend power to few, and allow them to use it only when they must, without explaining why. Even so, many oddities are powerful but not threatening- some merely live apart, fearful of association with common mortals, while others believe them to be unimportant.
Still, even among those who hold secrets, some keep safe the knowledge of the terrors of the world. They occasionally seek heroes, for they know civilization will not survive without them. Knowing how terrible it is, they must continue to keep their most vital role as protector of those secrets. One particular hero-seeker knows more than most of those few who have exceptional skills and abilities... the ones who possess feats. This person has realized that they are not isolated incidents. With the need for heroes rising, this person sees a need to be able to do more than find heroes... they must be reared. Yet, there are too few who can train them. It is not enough to train swordarms and hedge wizards. The tome of feats must be created, so that a generation of heroes with multiple exceptional abilities may arise.
The need is high. While a strong arm and mystical powers certainly win many battles, before the end it is those with tenacious courage who carry hope. This journey may take years, and those who start are not likely to see it to the end. Are you brave enough... to act in the face of fear?
The objective is to either imbue the tome with the abilities of exceptional individuals or to acquire the knowledge to train the ability.
Each time the tome is imbued, the cost to do so rises- and the cost is not gold.
Long duration in-game with a lot of downtime and travel
Skill at research, social integration, creating fame/infamy, infiltration, wilderness exploration, magic-crafting and money-making will all be valuable, though one should specialize at one or two things. Most important, money-making.
Common folk shun signs of magic as maleficent, unnatural influence- and most of the time, they're right.
Magic items are extremely rare, but more potent and often are sought after, and must be protected if it's discovered.
Money is difficult to find, steal, and earn, and even harder to keep a large amount of it.
Living expenses will be a significant factor.
Chaotic alignment is disallowed. You are not reliable enough for this important task.
Good alignment is not recommended. The tome must be completed at any cost. You must be prepared to accept the cost yourself if you are good, and you will not balk at your allies' methods. Consider yourself warned.
You must be predisposed to work with a team. It would be impossible to accomplish alone.
If the tome is discovered, you will have to take measures to ensure it is not taken from you.
Your future depends on it. Perhaps you don't have a choice. Perhaps this is an opportunity you can't pass up if you have a long life. Perhaps you feel it is your destiny- and you might be right.
I'm leaning toward allowing more feats than a character can normally acquire, but obviously they must be earned.
Some feats are common, some are rare, a few are super-rare or even unique.
Some feats cannot be trained and MUST be imbued.
Might include some homebrew feats made by others.
The clues found will depend on where the PCs are and what skills they use. They may have to resort to bribery or divination to discover some.
The hero-seeker has a lead on a way to learn a feat to start with, but from there the PCs might be on their own.
I’m interested. I like the idea of lots of downtime, and I don’t often get to explore that. It’d be cool to see how to stretch those creative brain cells to do something unique there.
Also: are trolls a playable race then? Or anything other than humans, halflings, and rare gnomes/elves/half elves? Seems sorta weird to make gnomes more Fey than elves, but I’ll roll with it.
How should I roll a character up? And are these meant to then be adventurers with fairly stationary lives interrupted by brief spurts of travel/exploration or are we nomadic types?
Before I throw my hat into the ring... if I even do that is (your answers may be the reason if I do or not), I have a few questions that need answering...
1. Why are there no guidelines for character creation? Does anything go? Are Homebrew RACES allowed? are there any CLASSES we aren't allowed to use? More guidelines on that would be great and would clear some things up.
2. is there any REAL reason why the chaotic alignment is forbidden? BESIDES "it's not reliable"? What does that even mean? Discouraging "good" makes sense (Cant complete a tome of feats if you aren't willing to get your hands dirty), but chaotic? This needs a better explanation other than "It's reliable", because it doesn't make any sense... (I mean have you SEEN what Barbarians can do? It's crazy!)
3. just how long is this Campaign gong to be? Short or long? I'm fine with either, but I'd like to know how often you'd like your players to commit to this.
Sounds really interesting, was thinking that maybe a true Neutral Monk (Way of Shadow perhaps, or Open Palm if Way of the Shadow is too much like magic) would be great match for this type of environment where Feats of the body are the primary driver for a character seeking mortal perfection.
Keen to get involved in your world.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Bubbles the Barbarian" (Locathah - Lvl 9) - Locathah Rising; Shai'ere Delatete (Githyanki Monk - Lvl 9) Rrakkma (deceased - MindFlayer); Saros Rockfoot (Deep Gnome Diviner - Lvl 5) - The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above; Tagret (Goliath Barbarian - Lvl 2) - Tales of Faerun;
@nschrock: Sorry, no trolls for PCs. Elves are recognized as the noblest of creatures, the prime benevolent fey. Gnomes do not share the glowing reputation, and are tolerated at best, often believed to associate with tricksters. The PCs can be drawn from extremely varying backgrounds, but there are some things they'll share in common... see below.
@TyranntX:
I've only had thoughts on character creation guidelines, until I have more fleshed out oppositions, obstacles, potential allies etc... and wanted to get a feel for the interest for it. Your weigh in is exactly what I was looking for- perhaps I shouldn't exclude chaotic. A lot is still in the air. I expect it'll be ready for launch around the 24th, and start accepting characters this week if the interest is strong enough.
I'll do away with the no chaotic thing- Harrison Ford is an excellent hero. I was thinking from the perspective of the hero-seeker... whose disposition is against those who freely adapt themselves to deal with situations in trusting them with the tome. That person would not like to recruit Indiana Jones, but perhaps the assistant could slip him in the roster.
I'm aiming to make it a short campaign by making it possible to 'catch' most feats in downtime. That still means months long. However, I'm also leaving an opener into a followup campaign.
This is what I'm leaning toward for now for character creation. Still up in the air.
7th level.
Standard ability array.
One free feat, but can not pick variant human or pick one for 4th level.
Homebrew races tentatively allowed, but must have reliable means to be included in mortal societies of all kinds.
Standard classes. Tentative approval for homebrew classes that are relatively simple, fit in Midgard, and are balanced compared to the sorcerer or rogue.
Each character must have at least one skill that will allow them to reliably contribute in downtime, preferably two or more.
Standard starting equipment +600 gp.
Backstory. You could assume the role of the hero seeker if you know enough about Midgard (this is an even grittier version of it). This particularly applies to the starting gold. I expect everyone's backstory to allow them some advantage so nobody is left behind.
All characters must be predisposed to work with a team whenever possible, including infiltrators.
The character must have a compelling reason to complete the tome. It could be, and not limited to, overwhelming debt/servitude to a higher power, a personal desire to amass feats (such as the monk already proposed), belief in the mysterious guiding hand behind civilization, or out of fear of the powers that seem able to topple civilization on an impulse. With 7th level, you have quite a bit of creative license for your character's experiences.
Most or all characters will be found by the Hero Seeker. This entity has extensive connections and has plenty of leverage and wealth to force circumstances upon PCs to abandon their previous lives or put them on hold, you can use that in the background. The PCs themselves are filling the first pages of the tome.
A few more details about the game if it comes to be:
5 PCs to start.
Few, difficult fights, but don't expect to rest between every fight.
Expect limited dungeon-crawling.
Any magic class is fine. Just be careful not to get branded as an evil witch/warlock. Basically, avoid scaring peasants unless you can deal with it.
1/day posting standard once started, it need not be every 24 hours.
Expect to defend your possessions, or buy light. Keep your outward appearance at less than 100 gold to avoid such attention, or hire mercenaries.
"Common" is the only language you'll need in most cases, unless you wish to impress, in which case, pick up Illyrian, Elvish, Draconic, and Kariv.
I'm actually super interested in this! The premise seems interesting and I'm a slut for worlds where magic is more taboo (it makes it all the more fun to use it >:3)
Hmn, Maybe interested then... I've gota homebrew sub-race of a homebrew race i've been needing to test out, but never got the chance to due to circumstances... (And yes, you heard right, I've homebrewed something off of something that was already Homebrewed)... I'm thinking either a small inventor who uses technology over magic, or a muscle bound brute.
Any chance you would allow a Goliath (could be a very large human) as I've been developing a Blacksmith character (Forge cleric) who takes great pride in his work (the Goliath competitive nature coming to the fore).
I also really like the large downtime element and think that this is where PbP is very strong because it allows players lots of time to think about their characters and develop them.
Minotaur in this setting are basically Goliaths with a penchant for navigating underground instead of in the cold wild. They're more civilized. And they, too, love competition and rough sport, the feasts they hold after competitions are the most grand across the lands. Completing various labyrinths are hallmarks of their worth, tests in the eyes of their elders. Their statblocks are very similar...
Powerful and proud, Minotaur are masters of runes, labyrinth, and seamanship. They prize their horns as marks of their ancestry. They jealously keep the secrets of runes, though most only understand the meaning and not the magic.
The statblock is the same as the Goliath's, except...
Doesn't have Natural Athelete, Stone's Endurance, Mountain Born or Giant language
Instead, has: Proficient in Perception Has Darkvision Gore attack: When moving at least 10' in a charge, the Minotaur may attack with their horns as a bonus action. This attack deals 1d8 damage and applies strength modifier, increasing to 2d8 at 6th, 3d8 at 11th, and 5d8 at 16th. After using the gore attack, you can't use it again until you complete a short or long rest. Speaks Common and Celestial (the language of many rituals)
This sounds interesting, especially the low magic aspect. Do you have homebrews for the races that you allow that aren't standard, or would we just reskin some of the standard races?
Nightsky I can work with a Minotaur perhaps one who specialises in stone masonry, background will be something like Artisan (mason). Would a cleric work - thinking of either modification of Forge domain (perhaps slightly different spell set) or Order domain. Regards Grant
Nekraen: My Midgard was made for Pathfinder, but converting for 5e is easy enough. Reskins work well, too. Kenku work for Tengu, Genasi for Geniefolk, Warforged for Gearforged. Most of the races are just like they are in 5e, though these are notable exceptions...
Gearforged are almost entirely metal, made of plates, shafts, springs, gears, and a soulgem. Gearforged are mortals whose souls are transferred into metal bodies.
Kobolds are more wise in their interactions with society, and largely fuel the industrial war machines with their extensive, civilization-protected mining. In most settings, they're the laborers for dragons or themselves- in this one, they work for everyone.
Centaur form the backbone of nomadic cultures in the east, though still warlike, are far more interested in peaceful trade... because everyone is warlike.
Minotaurs are far smaller, though still represent the largest of the typically free-willed in society. They predominantly live in the south in a greco-roman culture.
Geniefolk have an easy time concealing their nature, though they are favored in the far southeast where they generally stay.
Other options will have to be discussed case-by-case.
@GrantFromCanberra: That'll work well and fits right in.
This is pretty interesting, and I like the potential for gearfolk in a setting where mortality is a real consideration.
A wizard seems like a natural fit, and I haven't played one in a while. Given the motif of unusual knowledge and power, how would you feel about a Graviturge or Scribe?
The former is from the Wildemount book, which is official but a little esoteric for some.
I mostly run homebrew campaigns. They draw from published adventures, sometimes including entire one-shots, but a lot of monsters and encounters I come up with myself, and start with a major theme and let the players drive it from there. Anyway, I was thinking about feats when I came up with an idea: a campaign where the theme is "creating a tome of feats". With potential for a followup campaign where the next generation of heroes are ones who trained from that tome.
In this world where magic is uncommon, and feats of ability are even less common, adventurers and mercenaries are everywhere. When they go into the ancient forest, many do not return... and when they do, it is often with horror of how their companions were lost. Still, the allure draws many, for when they do come back, sometimes they bring something fantastic... or far stronger than before, even if touched by terror. Nobody hears what happens to those lucky few when they go into retirement after they show the wonders they return with. Then again, few know that many of them have no family who would know if they went missing. Still, the various powers quietly push folk into heroism- for if they were to stop, they know civilization will not survive without the few who defy the terrors beyond the reach of the common man.
This is the world of Midgard. The fey are truly dangerous mysteries who toy with mortals, where dragons are obsessed with their own power, undead bide their strength in secret with immortality on their side, witches seek marvelous pleasures, and haunted ghost towns are best left alone. In this world, liches and dark elves are complete unknown. Dragons and manticores are fables, where one land knows dragons are real for they have chained a live one in their capital as a trophy, while another contains hidden dungeons of manticore experiments. There are many prolific races- humans, dwarves, halflings, orcs, trolls, ogres... most work with each other to survive, though few do so for long. Wizards keep the secret of magic safe from the masses and the power-hungry, sorcerers are truly treated as demon-touched. Elves exist, have once ruled the world, but have all but disappeared, leaving a few and a weakening bloodline of half-elves, now treated as royalty. Gnomes are seen as fey-kin, and are distrusted. Gods lend power to few, and allow them to use it only when they must, without explaining why. Even so, many oddities are powerful but not threatening- some merely live apart, fearful of association with common mortals, while others believe them to be unimportant.
Still, even among those who hold secrets, some keep safe the knowledge of the terrors of the world. They occasionally seek heroes, for they know civilization will not survive without them. Knowing how terrible it is, they must continue to keep their most vital role as protector of those secrets. One particular hero-seeker knows more than most of those few who have exceptional skills and abilities... the ones who possess feats. This person has realized that they are not isolated incidents. With the need for heroes rising, this person sees a need to be able to do more than find heroes... they must be reared. Yet, there are too few who can train them. It is not enough to train swordarms and hedge wizards. The tome of feats must be created, so that a generation of heroes with multiple exceptional abilities may arise.
The need is high. While a strong arm and mystical powers certainly win many battles, before the end it is those with tenacious courage who carry hope. This journey may take years, and those who start are not likely to see it to the end. Are you brave enough... to act in the face of fear?
What do you think?
Questions/comments, also?
I’m interested. I like the idea of lots of downtime, and I don’t often get to explore that. It’d be cool to see how to stretch those creative brain cells to do something unique there.
Also: are trolls a playable race then? Or anything other than humans, halflings, and rare gnomes/elves/half elves? Seems sorta weird to make gnomes more Fey than elves, but I’ll roll with it.
How should I roll a character up? And are these meant to then be adventurers with fairly stationary lives interrupted by brief spurts of travel/exploration or are we nomadic types?
Paladin - warforged - orange
Before I throw my hat into the ring... if I even do that is (your answers may be the reason if I do or not), I have a few questions that need answering...
1. Why are there no guidelines for character creation? Does anything go? Are Homebrew RACES allowed? are there any CLASSES we aren't allowed to use? More guidelines on that would be great and would clear some things up.
2. is there any REAL reason why the chaotic alignment is forbidden? BESIDES "it's not reliable"? What does that even mean? Discouraging "good" makes sense (Cant complete a tome of feats if you aren't willing to get your hands dirty), but chaotic? This needs a better explanation other than "It's reliable", because it doesn't make any sense... (I mean have you SEEN what Barbarians can do? It's crazy!)
3. just how long is this Campaign gong to be? Short or long? I'm fine with either, but I'd like to know how often you'd like your players to commit to this.
"Why do we fight? That is the question of war"
Sounds really interesting, was thinking that maybe a true Neutral Monk (Way of Shadow perhaps, or Open Palm if Way of the Shadow is too much like magic) would be great match for this type of environment where Feats of the body are the primary driver for a character seeking mortal perfection.
Keen to get involved in your world.
"Bubbles the Barbarian" (Locathah - Lvl 9) - Locathah Rising; Shai'ere Delatete (Githyanki Monk - Lvl 9) Rrakkma (deceased - MindFlayer); Saros Rockfoot (Deep Gnome Diviner - Lvl 5) - The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above; Tagret (Goliath Barbarian - Lvl 2) - Tales of Faerun;
@nschrock: Sorry, no trolls for PCs. Elves are recognized as the noblest of creatures, the prime benevolent fey. Gnomes do not share the glowing reputation, and are tolerated at best, often believed to associate with tricksters. The PCs can be drawn from extremely varying backgrounds, but there are some things they'll share in common... see below.
@TyranntX:
I've only had thoughts on character creation guidelines, until I have more fleshed out oppositions, obstacles, potential allies etc... and wanted to get a feel for the interest for it. Your weigh in is exactly what I was looking for- perhaps I shouldn't exclude chaotic. A lot is still in the air. I expect it'll be ready for launch around the 24th, and start accepting characters this week if the interest is strong enough.
I'll do away with the no chaotic thing- Harrison Ford is an excellent hero. I was thinking from the perspective of the hero-seeker... whose disposition is against those who freely adapt themselves to deal with situations in trusting them with the tome. That person would not like to recruit Indiana Jones, but perhaps the assistant could slip him in the roster.
I'm aiming to make it a short campaign by making it possible to 'catch' most feats in downtime. That still means months long. However, I'm also leaving an opener into a followup campaign.
This is what I'm leaning toward for now for character creation. Still up in the air.
A few more details about the game if it comes to be:
I'm actually super interested in this! The premise seems interesting and I'm a slut for worlds where magic is more taboo (it makes it all the more fun to use it >:3)
Hmn, Maybe interested then... I've gota homebrew sub-race of a homebrew race i've been needing to test out, but never got the chance to due to circumstances... (And yes, you heard right, I've homebrewed something off of something that was already Homebrewed)... I'm thinking either a small inventor who uses technology over magic, or a muscle bound brute.
"Why do we fight? That is the question of war"
Any chance you would allow a Goliath (could be a very large human) as I've been developing a Blacksmith character (Forge cleric) who takes great pride in his work (the Goliath competitive nature coming to the fore).
I also really like the large downtime element and think that this is where PbP is very strong because it allows players lots of time to think about their characters and develop them.
DM - Stopping a god in his tracks
Minotaur in this setting are basically Goliaths with a penchant for navigating underground instead of in the cold wild. They're more civilized. And they, too, love competition and rough sport, the feasts they hold after competitions are the most grand across the lands. Completing various labyrinths are hallmarks of their worth, tests in the eyes of their elders. Their statblocks are very similar...
Powerful and proud, Minotaur are masters of runes, labyrinth, and seamanship. They prize their horns as marks of their ancestry. They jealously keep the secrets of runes, though most only understand the meaning and not the magic.
The statblock is the same as the Goliath's, except...
Doesn't have Natural Athelete, Stone's Endurance, Mountain Born or Giant language
Instead, has:
Proficient in Perception
Has Darkvision
Gore attack: When moving at least 10' in a charge, the Minotaur may attack with their horns as a bonus action. This attack deals 1d8 damage and applies strength modifier, increasing to 2d8 at 6th, 3d8 at 11th, and 5d8 at 16th. After using the gore attack, you can't use it again until you complete a short or long rest.
Speaks Common and Celestial (the language of many rituals)
They also have Powerful Build.
This sounds interesting, especially the low magic aspect. Do you have homebrews for the races that you allow that aren't standard, or would we just reskin some of the standard races?
Nightsky
I can work with a Minotaur perhaps one who specialises in stone masonry, background will be something like Artisan (mason). Would a cleric work - thinking of either modification of Forge domain (perhaps slightly different spell set) or Order domain.
Regards
Grant
DM - Stopping a god in his tracks
Nekraen: My Midgard was made for Pathfinder, but converting for 5e is easy enough. Reskins work well, too. Kenku work for Tengu, Genasi for Geniefolk, Warforged for Gearforged. Most of the races are just like they are in 5e, though these are notable exceptions...
Other options will have to be discussed case-by-case.
@GrantFromCanberra: That'll work well and fits right in.
@NightskyPirate
Would this homebrew https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/272713-earth-domain work instead of the Forge domain. Grateful for any views you might have.
Grant
DM - Stopping a god in his tracks
It's cool, but i don't like standard array
Cult of Sedge
Rangers are the best, and have always been the best
I love Homebrew
I hate paladins
Warrior Bovine
Are you accepting character submissions at this moment?
The Earth Domain 6th level ability, World Sense, is far too powerful. If it were limited # of rounds per day, or perhaps minutes, then maybe.
Tarrasques, what do you think of point buy? I'm typically a fan of ability dice rolls, but when allowing this much flexibility...
I'm thinking to open up a thread for character submissions tomorrow.
If we drop that bit and run with the rest would that work?
DM - Stopping a god in his tracks
Yep, no sweat.
This is pretty interesting, and I like the potential for gearfolk in a setting where mortality is a real consideration.
A wizard seems like a natural fit, and I haven't played one in a while. Given the motif of unusual knowledge and power, how would you feel about a Graviturge or Scribe?
The former is from the Wildemount book, which is official but a little esoteric for some.
The latter is from https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/unearthed-arcana/subclasses-revisited.
Another medical problem. Indefinite hiatus. Sorry, all.