Character discussion

[Fabian]

The "Players Handbook II" as in 2. It has new classes and whatnot. The knight class is also available for free on Wizards website as part of the preview material for the PHB2. It's the sort of character I've always wanted to play in D&D.

[Rod the Worm]

Just to say I'm still interested in either running a warm-up adventure (lvls 1-~4) for this or taking part if room, but I'm having some internet troubles at the moment.  I can get on at university on weekdays, but at weekends I'm having to use a friend's like now.

Ah well. :icon_neutral:

[Balgin Stondraeg]

or taking part if room

There is. Don't worry, we won't be starting for a while yet (getting everyone sorted out).

[Alex]

I've been thinking about it, and if the previous idea is unsuitable, maybe the gnome tinkerer would do:

A vaguely harmless character, something along the lines of Leonard of Quirm from the discworld series, though slightly (but only slightly) more practically minded. He's constantly futtering with his gadgets, which include <details to be finalised later, but they approximate the effects of his magic items>  His most valuable posession is his notebook (spellbook), the margins of which are filled with doodles ranging from line drawings of rare flowers to plans for dragon-seeking missiles.

NB- he does use arcane magic, not science, but the manner in which he conjures his effects is somewhat roundabout- summon monster might involve winding up a clockwork toy which comes to life (and maybe grows in size, whatever) as he 'casts' the spell.

It seems strange to many that someone whose head is so firmly in the clouds could survive in the big, bad world of adventuring, but so far, he's managed to get by (albeit with more than a little help from his friends.) His motivations are as whimsical as his sketches, but the general gist of them is a desire to field-test his inventions and garner inspiration for new designs from experiences that it's just not possible to get in a studio.

Unlike most gnomes, gems hold no interest for him; he's more likely to be interested in the mechanisms of the trap than the contents of the chest.


On paper, he'd have ridiculously high intelligence, of course, but below average wisdom and charisma- he has no street smarts whatsoever and finds it difficult to hold a conversation with 'normal' people, as he's prone to breaking off mid-sentence to search for his pen and paper. Plenty of craft skills and feats, and possibly proficiency with a repeater crossbow- it's the sort of thing he'd come up with.

[Balgin Stondraeg]

His most valuable posession is his notebook (spellbook)

Sketchbook?

I'm flexible on spellbooks. I'm happy for a spellbook to be a staff carved with many different runes, a deck of cards, something really obscure to do with spider's webs or something mimmicked in silken thread (a bit like dreamcatchers). Because every magician is supposed to have their oqn unique magical "handwriting" (that is, their own system of jotting things down) then I don't see why art couldn't hide secret meanings too. He's not a Free Mason is he? :p

[Mr Teufel]

Have you seen the Artificer class from Eberron? It could suit the tinker-gnome idea.

And I suggest that even for the "prequel" adventures we should start at 2nd lvl; to avoid fragile wizard syndrome, and so those of us who's character concept is based on cross-classing can start as we'll be going on with.

[Alex]

I'd forgotten about that. I don't have a copy of Eberron here; may see if I can't 'procure' one for ideas, at least. Don't know much about the setting at all.

If it seemed reasonable, would you be up for letting me use it, Balgin?

Edit: It sounds as if it's along the right lines for the character: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificer_%28Dungeons_%26_Dragons%29

[Balgin Stondraeg]

Have you seen the Artificer class from Eberron? It could suit the tinker-gnome idea.

Npo fudge*ing way. Eberron's rubbish*.

I will, however, maybe allow the Master Artificer prestige class from the Complete Arcane. However, at 4th level you probably won't have access to prestige classes.

All this "alternative base class" bollocks isn't going to happen in my game :p. Basicaly if I've got the rules for something, and I'm okay with it, then that's fine. If I've got the rules for something that's completely broken (like the Warlock class from the Complete Arcane) then I won't allow it. I have the core books, the four main prestige class books (as if anyone ever buys the "complete" books for anything else). The five earlier incarnations of those books (paperback pre 3.5 versions) and a few other bits and pieces (Heroes of Horror, the Good Book, the Evil Book, Grimtooth d20, Lone Wolf d20.... if someone wants to play a dwarven warrior who likes his guns then I have the Dwarven Gunner of Bor class from Lone Wolf d20 which fits that perfectly. He'd be a lone inventor 'though as I don't think lots of high tech stuff and gunpowder fits into this setting well).

But at 4th level you shouldn't need to worry about prestige classes much.

[Mr Teufel]

Ah, well, just a thought. Honestly, Alex, I wasn't sure Balgin would let it fly. He's got strong opinions, he has, so if we're going to game with Balgin as DM we'll have to accept that.

[Balgin Stondraeg]

I'm actualy fairly relaxed on most things but there are some things that I don't like (think, the original Planescape before Torment made it semi cool). If it's something cool (like the "back to the wall" feat from the Ravenloft book where you get combat bonuses when you're down to a third of your HP or less) then I probably like it but if it's wanky "hey let's just give them laods of bonuses and rubbish*" or based on manga, or dragonpunk, then I'm probably not interested.

[Alex]

No worries- I had a bit of a look and it seemed okay, but playing around with the wizard class would do nicely.

Edit: Another couple of questions, spawned after reading the world lore thread. Are the bog-standard racial dieties used here, or should I pick one of the ones mentioned in the glossary, and is there much information where dwarfs/gnomes fit into the grand scheme of things- is there a dwarf kingdom or do they mingle with the big folk?

[Balgin Stondraeg]

I'd say go with the glossary but it's only got one elven god, all the rest are human. For nonhumans I'll need to think a bit (I've got an old dwarven religious system I could easily integrate and a version of it could work for gnomes too but they're probably less religious).

[Alex]

Yeah, I didn't picture the tinkerer as hugely religious- not anti-religion as such; he believes in the gods etc but he's about as good at actually getting round to worship as he is at other 'mundane' activities.

A random thought that just crossed my mind, and I'm not even sure it's possible, but do you remember in Baldur's Gate 2 there was a 'wild mage' template which added a bit of randomness into spellcasting? Something along those lines could be fun for the inventions not exactly functioning like they should.

"Oops! Remind me not to crank the miniature lightning generation discombobulatory whirlamatronic controller anti-clockwise again!"

[Balgin Stondraeg]

Reminds me of something amusing I once said when I was around fourteen or fifteen. It's still amusing now really (although less so since I hear they've got storage capacity now). I can't remember what I was talking about but I know exactly what I said and everyone laughed at it at the time.

"That's about as useful as a solar powered torch."

[Mr Teufel]

Perhaps make a variant of one of the Extend Spell type feats that's a bit cheaper (doesn't push the spell up as many levels) but has a chaotic failure mode?

BTW Balgin, have you any thoughts on my Rogue/Druid idea?