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Gnomes2169
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Duke of the Glade
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posted June 05, 2019 11:07 AM |
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Demonborn: Arise (D&D 5e OoC)
Huge backstory dump feel free to skip yes.
A thousand years ago, the Creator looked upon his creation and found himself... disappointed. Standing within the heart of the Djinn empire, the greatest pinnacle that civilization had managed to reach, and submerging himself within the grand scrying pools that they had created for him, he stretched his mind from horizon to horizon. And what he saw filled his heart with disgust and bitter regret.
The moon corrupted and twisted the minds and flesh of weak-willed mortals, making them into mindless beasts that brought only disaster and suffering to those they encountered. The deepest oceans held the greatest horrors, leviathans who's mere presence near the ocean's surface caused storms and sent whispers of madness into the minds of sailors and beasts alike. The arachnid Weavers and their nightmare spawn covered half the world, spreading like a tumor, consuming life and twisting it into an ever growing storm of chitinous horror that not even Oberon's wild hunt could halt. And among the feral wolves a new kind of threat had arisen, as the children of monstrous Barghast howled, parasitic beings names lycanthropes, who stole the bodies of their victims and lead packs that could bring civilizations to ruin.
But, beyond all of this, all of these minor setbacks and flaws, all of these failures and signs that this world was ill, there were two disappointments greater than any other. Humanity and its various offshoots, and the Grey. Races that the Creator had watched evolve together, that he had anointed, given the chance to ascend beyond mortality to, and which he had watched time and again overcome every obstacle set against them... were failures. The grey had but one deity, and they had rejected his cold, heartless ambition, and so the proud warrior race had fallen behind humanity. And humanity... had grown arrogant. The dwarves that the Creator had given to guide and shepherd them had been left behind as mankind innovated and crafted beyond their wildest dreams, their alliance with the Djinn had granted them an ally that could not be assailed, their multiple, various gods each had their own ambitions and lofty goals, so many of which conflicted with the Creator's own plan.
Yet all of that could have been overlooked. Could have been forgiven. But, standing within the mirror pool, the Creator watched as humanity did the unthinkable. One of them, an ascendant rising to godhood, murdered the dragon Chaul, the Creator's herald, and mere heartbeats later, mortal men and women across the continent of Rahvin turned their blades upon the Creator Born, his children, and, at the order of their gods, butchered them down to the last man, woman and child.
And this, the Creator vowed, would not stand. This had gone too far. This disappointing world, filled with its horrors, its cancers, its feral, uncontrollable life, had to be... cleansed. Humanity had to be unmade, their gods cast into oblivion, and their allies and history obliterated from all of time. In his fury he rose from the mirror pool, blazing as a second sun and burning away the city and all that had inhabited it, djinn, human, gnome, grey, fey and sharen alike, and he drew from himself his fires of creation, twisted into a new form, and gathered them to make a cataclysmic wave of destruction. To wipe the world clean. To start again.
But the Djinn, while many of them had been destroyed with their capitol city, were not yet unmade. Knowing that the shockwaves of power would eradicate them, knowing that their civilization and their race would not be spared the judgement of the grieving Creator's fury, their race reached out and shattered the very foundations of the earth. Raising up new mountains, they formed a bowl that contained the eruption of the creator's fury, sacrificing themselves in the act, but sparing the world their own fate. And as the flames of judgement died, the fires of a divine war were lit, and the gods and their mortal followers marched upon the much depleted creator to visit upon him their own judgement.
In the war that followed, many of the alliances among the gods and fey shattered, the winter court standing neutral in the affair, continuing to wage their war against the Weavers while the Summer court rallied to their Creator, along with a small handful of gods who saw their opportunity to find salvation from the Creator's wrath. For the other gods, they marched to a war of horrors, of uncounted dead, and civilizations lost and shattered as they struggled for their very survival. But just when humanity and their allies stood on the brink of defeat, the last four dragons intervened.
Betrayed by his eldest and greatest allies, the Creator had no defense as the great metallic beasts descended upon him. Oshai the Obsidian's voice stopped all conflict, ensnared the minds and souls of mortal and immortal birth alike. Ebreus the Copper, his ever changing and flowing body crashing to the earth, tore the Creator's mortal shell limb from limb, and fused it to the bones of the earth as he crafted a great portal. Behris the Iron, clever manipulator of the Veil and master of spirit, ensnared the Creator's spirit and the souls of all gods and Fey upon the battlefield and, with a twist if his claws, tore a rent in the veil within the portal's heart, drawing drawing all divine and fey parties involved (even the Creator's enemies) in the war alike into the wound. And Ahmit the Silver, the great nurturer and protector, healer and pure soul that she was, drew the souls of the other dragons to herself and, together, they crafted a prison realm around the entrapped beings, Limbo. A perfect realm, timeless, inescapable, separate from the Veil and the material world, a realm that could contain the chaos and the wound it had brought to life within it...
Or at least, she thought she had. But as the bodies of the other dragons fell to the ground, and even her own silver form came to rest as a lifeless construct, Behris pulled away from his beloved's grasp. For Behris knew that this realm could not last, could not be eternal as Ahmit hoped. One day the Creator would return to his creation, and he would not be content with simply being contained again.
And so Behris did what he did best. He plotted. He planned. He prepared. And, with the help of Ahmit's body, animated by an echo of her great spirit, he gathered spirits to create new champions. To create... You.
[hr][/hr]
Present Time
Welcome to the southern isles and peninsula of Rahvin. Along this small, far off island chain, life has struggled to find a foothold, the nearly barren stone hardly suitable for crops or sustaining animal life, and the winters far more harsh than to the northern half of the continent. In between this land and the North stretches a massive, burnt and scarred wasteland, a wound from the Creator's judgement that remains nearly lifeless to this day, and which has prevented any explorers or colonists from finding these barely-hospitable islands so far from their home. And so these islands have remained relatively lifeless, shrubs, the occasional tree, and Moonspawn dotting their surface, but little else.
Well, that is, until relatively recently. Over the last two hundred years, members of various races that were recruited into the service of the dragon Behris and the undead husk of his draconic mate have been ferried down to this island chain, taming what they can and colonizing the cliffs, while Ahmit did what her body was created to; gather the souls of powerful mortals who might be of use to Behris' plans. Souls that would be reborn to chosen mortals, their bodies reforged to take on the characteristics of one of the five divine dragons, with long lives and the histories and memories of what they had been before their rebirth still intact, if changed to serve Behris' purposes.
And for two hundred years this has continued without a hitch. The islands became over-full, and colonies were established upon the mainland, within Judgement's Wound itself as necessity forced colonists to help the land heal, lest they starve and have no home to call their own. Hundreds grew to thousands, thousands to tens of thousands, reborn warriors and natural races alike spreading farther as they gathered strength according to Behris' plan. But something unexpected happened. A god thought to have been murdered by his own wife, Bastin Caine, the Lord of Light, returned to the world. And his return heralded a tumultuous time in the northern half of the continent, as it brought war between the freshly reforged nation of Surim and their long-time foe, the Mage Cities of the Golden Sands.
This war plunged the North into chaos, as the Undead under the command of the Litch joined in, and Ahmit, doing what she was created to do, stalked the battlefields, reaving the souls of soldiers and champions alike. The mage cities were shattered and subjugated, but not before they almost broke the spine of the Burnt God's nation, and the toll of the war drove the god to despair. The nation of Loros, once a sprawling conglomerate of kingdoms and theocracies, was reduced in all dimensions by the undead's unexpected war, and their colonies to the west declared independence as a new nation, Duranos. The Dwarves were nearly eradicated, the dragon and the Litch both targeting their holds for their own purposes, leaving barely any of the race alive. The Grey, already much reduced, retreated further into the wilderness, becoming violently territorial within the lands of Lor, while the ones in Duran kept only the most tenuous of ties with the new independant human nation. And, finally, the Sul-Sharen finally re-emerged from their underground kingdom to wage war upon their surface-dwelling kin, decimating their foes before being driven back and having the violence turned upon them in kind.
All of this devastation could not have come at a worse time. While twenty five years have healed some of the scars, the northern nations are still wounded, raw from all of the violence, to the point that systems and treaties have been put in place to ensure no nation assembles armies to wage war upon any other. But, far to the east, colonies established a thousand years ago that everyone had forgotten, colonies established at the edge of the domain of the Weavers, have won their eternal war. Oberon's wild hunt continues, but the mortals are free to turn their eyes back to Rahvin, where they had come from, where the last of the djinn had returned, where the gods had gone to disappear, and where, from the lips of a near-drowned sailor, they knew that a mad, broken god now reigned.
A fleet is coming, and only Behris and his anointed few know it. They are coming to conqueror the nations, to kill Bastin Caine, to unify the world under their bloody heel. And they come to find the entrance to the Creator's prison. And they come to free him from Limbo, to unleash his judgement once more upon the world, for they followed the gods who sided with him in times of yore.
An army is coming.
And though it is not the army you are meant to battle, it is one that only you and your fellow chosen can stop.
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Gnomes2169
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Duke of the Glade
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posted June 05, 2019 11:07 AM |
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Character Creation Stuff
Character Sheets/ Map platform
Apparently there's a character creator on Roll20, which is the website the map will be held on and which I would happily walk people through if I knew where the sheets were. However... I am not the person to ask about that. Geny will be your guide there. I can help with all of the class features and other things of that nature, but as for where you should go to locate the character sheet, I'll leave that up to Geny.
Roll20 is also where I will be creating games and maps, so it's a site that I would highly suggest joining if you want to be part of this game. (If you wanted to roll for stats on there, it's also the only site you would have to join.)
Stat Generation
Either use the dice roller in Roll20, or go to THIS THREAD in Giant in the Playground to generate your character's attributes. We will be using the 4d6 drop the lowest die rolled method to generate stats in this game, with one re-roll allowed. If you want that explained more fully, follow the link and read the GitP thread for a more thorough explanation and an example.
Races
I have created a google doc with all of the races available in it. Use these races instead of the ones you find in the player's handbook, as these one were designed at a slightly higher power level, and also to fit the world better.
Starting level and money
Characters start at level 3, with 1,100 gold pieces for equipment beyond what you get in the starting package.
Why level 3 if these characters are supposed to be reborn champions/ mortal followers of similar potential? Well, not all of them have gotten to that point yet. Some are mortal followers literally shipped to and born on the southern islands, some are just reborn soldiers, and not all of the reborn champions are used to their new bodies. So level 3 is where we start.
We WILL have maximum HP rolls for levels 1-3, however. So that should make everyone seem a little bit tougher than the average bear adventurer!
Magic item prices
Magic items are a bit more rare in this setting than in normal D&D. These items are generally crafted by the personality and life force of a powerful warrior/ mage/ cleric/ whatever bonding to the item and giving it magical traits, meaning that these items are collected from the honored dead. Magical ammunition, potions and scrolls are the exception.
For a general pricing guideline, here's what you can generally afford:
+1 weapon: 1000 gold, adds the +1 bonus to both attack and damage rolls made with the weapon.
+1 ammunition: 50 gold each, expends the enchantment whenever it manages to hit the target and becomes mundane ammunition afterwords.
Unbreaking ammunition: 20 gold each, never break, count as magical for purposes of damage resistance and immunity.
Adamantine chainmail/ breastplate: 900 gold each.
Potions of Healing: 50 gold each, heal 2d4+2 hit points each. (Can also be found in the Player Handbook)
Potions of Greater Healing: 150 gold each, heal 4d4+4 hit points each. For when you just really need someone to not die and don't have any slots.
Restorative Ointment: 250 gold for one with 3 charges, -50 gold for each missing charge.
Periapt of Wound Closure: 550 gold, requires attunement (you may only have up to 3 items attuned to you at a time), automatically succeed on rolls to stabilize while dying, regain twice as many hit points when rolling hit dice to recover HP during a short rest.
Spell Scrolls: 100 gold per spell level, maximum level scroll that can be purchased is 3.
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Gnomes2169
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Duke of the Glade
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posted June 05, 2019 11:08 AM |
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Alright, I HAVE FINISHED THE RACES! Now. Onto GENERAL MAGIC RULES... because Undead and souls work differently from default here.
1. Magic, where do come from?
Well, magic is made up of the excess life force of particular beings that just gets kinda trapped between them and the ever-hungering veil between life and death. Different people draw upon different sources of LIFE JUICE, but the three general sources are the following:
-Inborn magic: Or magic that the spellcaster’s own soul produces like a kid in an industrial era sweatshop. This magic tends to be arcane in nature, and fuels those who have inborn magic like Sorcerers, Arcane Tricksters and Eldritch Knights. This os also the same source of Ki, though ki is the harmozation of the body and mind with this energy to empower and channel it inward instead of chucking around fireballs. Usually. [i*Looks at the way of the Sun-Soul.*
Despite this being the primary source of power for the classes listed above, every spellcaster has at least a little bit of this kind of magic, though the other spellcasters typically use their inborn magic to protect them from the feedback of the powers they call upon instead of using to to fuel all of their spells.
-Invoking a particular entity: Bards, clerics, paladins and warlocks all fall under this category. Paladins and clerics and bards tend to call upon deities or ancestral champions, which empower them with potent magics. Warlocks... well, they signed the blood contract, they shouldn’t worry about it. More seriously, while clerics and paladins have some control over the spells they cast, shaping the energy they are given into the form desired, Warlocks are much more at the whims of their patrons, and their selection is more limited because of it.
-Invoking the World Spirit: The world itself is alive, and being alive it generates immense wells of power that those who are attuned to it can feel and call upon. Druids, rangers and wizards all use this variety of magic, druids and rangers through communion with the world and wizards through looking at books until the world taking pity on them for being GIANT NERDS through mastering and memorizing words and invocations of power.
Technically there is a fourth source of magic, magic that comes from the Veil itself, which is called Dragon magic... but that would be covered by the Mystic class, which is not released yet. So the closest you can get is being a warlock with a dragon as your patron.
2. Necromancy
Outside of Finger of Death (and spells of that level), there is no way for a mortal to create permanent undead. For spells like Animate Dead, treat them like they were a Conjure X spell of the same level, but instead they create the specified undead og the appropriate CR for the duration instead of elementals/ fey/ puppers, etc.
3. Healing and resurrection
All magic comes from life force, and as such all magic can be used to heal. To nail this point home, every single class gets the following spells added to their class lists:
-Cure wounds
-Lesser Restoration
-Greater Restoration
-Regeneration
Note, just because a spell is on a class list does not mean that it is known or prepared at all times. It just means that every class has the option to learn and prepare these spells.
As far as resurrection is concerned, once a soul actually leaves its body the veil immediately takes a hold of it and begins ripping away memories, personality and essence so that new souls may be crafted from everything the person had been. As such, the only resurrection spells that work are Revivify (because it stops the soul from leaving the body in the first place) and Wish (because it has the power to REMAKE THE SOUL FROM SCRATCH).
4. Teleportation and extra-planar travel
Magic costs life force. Life force is a form of energy. Teleporting matter from one place to another requires a LOT of energy. As such, teleportation spells that cover more distance than Dimension Door do not exist. Which is... basically a restriction on Teleportation Circle and the spell Teleport.
As far as extra-planar travel is concerned, well, to travel to other planes you would need to immerse yourself within the veil first. Which, if you read the Resurrection section, you would know is a BAD IDEA. It could very well be developed, after all Mutal Ramd, the dragon and the Creator seemed to be able to do it all the time, but a normal mortal would need to take immense precautions and use stupid amounts of protection in order to survive the journey. The spell Etherealness still works, as you are only skimming the ethereal realm, the farthest edge of the Veil, but Planeshift is effectively just an overly complicated suicide note.
ON THE SUBJECT OF CLASS CHANGES!!!
I want to leave it mostly alone, but two classes in particular have glaring flaws that need to be addressed. Specifically, mid-late game fighters and rangers. On that subject...
Fighters
-You get a second use of second wind at level 11.
-Indomidable also grants proficiency in a saving throw of your choice each time you get a use of this feature.
-Champion fighters’ Remarkable Athlete feature allows them to add half of their proficiency bonus to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution checks, including checks they are already proficient in.
-Battlemasters’ Relentless ability gives them a superiority die whenever they start their turn without and available superiority dice.
-Eldritch Knights can choose any two wizard schools as their two schools to learn from (so something like Abjuration/ Divination, or Illusion/ Necromancy instead of Abjuration/ Evocation.)
Rangers
-Primeval Awareness also passively grants you 30 feet of Darkvision, or increases any Darkvision you already have by 30 feet.
-The bonuses from hide in plain sight lasts until you leave the environment, take a short rest, or are dealt 20 or more damage since you applied it.
-Foe Slayer applies to every single attack you make. Be it against favored enemies or not, and regardless of how many attacks you make. If you attack a favored enemy, you gain advantage on the attack roll.
-Beast master doesn’t exist. Just... don’t even look at it.
-Hunter gets the following spells as spells known at the specified character levels. They don’t count against total spells known:
•Level 3: Hunter’s mark.
•Level 5: Spider Climb
•Level 9: Meld into Stone
•Level 13: Polymorph
•Level 17: Swift Quiver.
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Galatea
Supreme Hero
Well, I'm Ceres!
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posted June 05, 2019 11:30 AM |
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I want to be a Dark elf please!
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And she told you, laughing down to her core, so she would not cry, as she lay on your lap,
"Nobody here can live forever, quiet in the grasp of dusk and summer."
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Geny
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted June 05, 2019 11:56 AM |
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Quote: And though it is not the army you are meant to battle, it is one that only you and your fellow chosen can stop.
Cut to a scene of several idiots throwing poo at each other.
I'm in as promised. Will wait for details on character creation.
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DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.
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CountBezuhoff
Supreme Hero
Nihil sub sole novum
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posted June 05, 2019 01:58 PM |
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I have never played D&D. Should I cram in a rulebook or can I rely solely on my countposting powers?
The Count
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Geny
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted June 05, 2019 02:05 PM |
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Edited by Geny at 14:06, 05 Jun 2019.
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It isn't necessary to study the whole rulebook. In the end, Gnomes will tell us to roll something and we'll roll it. You'll have to learn certain things to create your character, but we'll be here to guide you when we get to it.
Of course, if you do have the time, it would help if you at least skim through the rules or find a guide.
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DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.
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JoonasTo
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted June 05, 2019 05:38 PM |
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Is this play by turn or post?
Like do we have to wait for every roll?
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DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.
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Oddball13579
Supreme Hero
Grandmaster of the Hunt
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posted June 05, 2019 06:19 PM |
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I am really excited for this! I will wait till more information on the character creation is available. Really hyped!
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"Just slide her down a bit farther. I could wear her like a hat." - Gnomes
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Galatea
Supreme Hero
Well, I'm Ceres!
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posted June 05, 2019 06:38 PM |
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Ohhh! I am so excited to play with you guys! The Glade has never been this active since you came! <3
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And she told you, laughing down to her core, so she would not cry, as she lay on your lap,
"Nobody here can live forever, quiet in the grasp of dusk and summer."
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Geny
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted June 05, 2019 06:44 PM |
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I am, once again, ready to assist with character creation to those in need. As soon as Gnomes let's us know are the restriction and on what platform we should make the sheets.
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DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.
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JoonasTo
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted June 05, 2019 08:42 PM |
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Geny
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted June 05, 2019 09:00 PM |
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Edited by Geny at 21:00, 05 Jun 2019.
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I don't know why, but that finger movement is really disconcerting.
Also, it seems to have worked.
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DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.
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Gnomes2169
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Duke of the Glade
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posted June 05, 2019 09:29 PM |
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I'm editing the post already you nerds, golly gosh geeze, calm yourselfes!
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JoonasTo
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted June 05, 2019 09:32 PM |
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No one can resist the power of Chuuni!
Finger skills are absolutely essential for success.
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DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.
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Kareeah_Indaga
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
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posted June 06, 2019 12:41 AM |
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Geny
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted June 06, 2019 07:09 AM |
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Gnomes2169 said: I'm editing the post already you nerds, golly gosh geeze, calm yourselfes!
Liar!
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DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted June 06, 2019 09:26 AM |
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Where is my character creation!
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H5 is still alive and kicking, join us in the Duel Map discord server!
Map also hosted on Moddb
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Gnomes2169
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Duke of the Glade
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posted June 06, 2019 11:36 AM |
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Well seeing as I have real life D&D on Wednesdays and I'm designing new races for this setting... it's taken more than one single, solitary day to get this spur of the moment campaign's character creation section done. Please. Be. Patient. I'm a giant nerd but not that giant.
... That said, it's just two subraces of one race and one race with three subraces remaining, so I'm still a massive freaking nerd.
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Geny
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted June 06, 2019 12:02 PM |
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Are we going to use roll20 at all or will this be unnecessary?
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DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.
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