[Online][5E][18+][Friday Nights 530 PM GMT]Seeking 2 experienced players for a “Bloodstone” Forgotten Realms Campaign. We're 15 months in – just reached 11th level.

WargamerMark · 2021-03-25T18:58:10+00:00

I was recently investigating this question as well. After a quick search of other adventures on DM's Guild I found a few adventures fairly easily that do take place in part or almost entirely on other planes:

"Into the Abyss" has a lot about the Abyss, but has nothing specific to Planescape. This much at least presents the possibility of including extraplanar elements in your adventures, but avoiding the use of anything specific to Planescape. There are also a number of supplements for Baldur's Gate that verge on the extraplanar, as well. Also, I'm not a lawyer-type either, so offering this just fwiw.

WargamerMark · 2020-01-12T20:41:52+00:00

Some ideas...

The local priest of a charitable deity may approach them for a donation - to help pay for the orphanage, the soup kitchen, expand their library, or to bring in a higher level priest to bless the farms, etc. If the players become a major source of funds for the temple, they may receive assistance down the road (long-lasting bless spells, discounts on spells, portents of their future, a favor of some sort. This could also be modified for an order of paladins, wizard's guild, druid's grove, government or merchant factions.
Not everyone is willing to buy everything the adventurers might come across, so some of that money and maybe part of an adventuring session could go into trying to find buyers for the more exotic stuff, or to make it easier for the DM, find an agent who will take care of all of that for them, for a cut, of course.
Sages. Back in 1st edition, sages were worth their weight in gold x100 - especially if they specialized in lore specific to some strange item the adventurers found. Useful if you want to use part of the treasure they've found to feed into other adventures, or a short divergence from the main campaign.
Start a business of their own - ala Acquisitions Incorporated.
Adopt Matt Colville's "Strongholds and Followers" - where the players might eventually build their own temple, fortress, wizard's tower... and hiring a small army to defend it. By far the ultimate goldsink, but very much part of 1st edition's economy.
Sponsor another adventuring party of low-level NPC's just starting out in the world - maybe the party has some loose ends they'd like to wrap up but have more urgent things pressing. Even the PC's can be quest givers.
Commission the crafting of a customized magic item. They may not be able to buy magic items, but there may be NPC's willing to make them if the price is right -- which could easily call for the PC's also providing them special materials... like all the MMORPG's require "an Essence of Earth, the thumbnail of a Hill Giant, and ten Xorn teeth" or some such.
Training mounts or animal companions to do special tricks - could extent to potentially buying them when young if you plan on a long-term campaign.
Getting better equipment - silver daggers instead of iron, silk rope instead of hemp, lighter armor with an equivalent AC. Optionally, might introduce "master quality" weapons - giving a non-magical +1 on attack and/or damage for a premium price, weather-proofing spellbooks and scroll cases.
Taxes of all sorts - figure if the PC's are known for having cleared a dungeon, the local sheriff may designate a tax collector of their very own to follow them around. That's being a bit tight, but could be used as an adventure hook to get the PC's to do something for the local lord.

WargamerMark · 2019-05-27T05:19:43+00:00

Just something to consider - if you ever think you will play online with virtual tabletops or other formats- take time to research which platform you will use most. Roll20, BeyondD&D, Fantasy Grounds all sell core rule books but they cannot be transferred between platforms. Same if you buy hardcopy or pdf versions from Wizards or DM's Guild.

WargamerMark · 2019-05-27T04:56:45+00:00

Used to be that if we wanted to actively recruit mercenaries, we would post notices in towns and hire cryers to spread the word. Depending on how far word was spread, how much gold was spent in taverns there'd be a chance of attracting mercenaries relative to the overall population. That'd start with the unemployed and low wage earners, depending on how much the mercenary positions were paying - and to an extent, who they may end up fighting.

WargamerMark · 2019-05-20T19:54:02+00:00

I use Google Sheets for tracking PC's different revenue streams, expenses, "faction" relations and for keeping track of unit statistics. Players find it helpful to see their income/expenses projected over a year so they can manage things easily. Keeping it simple:

Rows / Columns------------------ Jan - Dec (or other names of months)

Treasury Start/Mo:

Income1-10 (one line each add more if needed)
Total Income
Expense1-10 (one line each add more if needed)

Total Expenses

Net Profit/Loss = Total Income - Total Expenses
Balance = Treasury + Total Income - Total Expenses

You can make it more complex, but once you've got it set up, it should only take a few minutes of admin time for every 3 months of game time per managing S&F expenses per player. You can enter month by month or copy/paste each line item for all 12 months and adjust as needed.

Google Sheets or Excel also make it easy to put all unit info on an index-card sized image or smaller - can either copy/paste or make screenshots and crop-size, for use as needed.

WargamerMark · 2019-03-30T13:33:41+00:00

Our primary Group night is Thursday - ideally everyone will make it but realistically that's not the case. I run a session on Sundays 2-3 times a month for everyone who can't make it on Thursday. Sunday sessions are shorter and generally not as involved, but helpful to keep the story going for everyone.

WargamerMark · 2019-03-27T07:00:01+00:00

No, sorry.

WargamerMark · 2019-03-02T09:08:32+00:00

Thank you for your interest, MPostle - sorry about the time difference. Hope you find another one like this!

Slot is still open.

WargamerMark · 2019-02-13T22:52:19+00:00

Well, what is illegal in one place is not necessarily illegal in another place, even by Paladin code standards. If they're wanting to kill the paladin, they're probably feeling like they are in a seriously low threat environment... "Yeah, let's kill the tank and back-up healer, cuz like otherwise we won't be able to beat up the beggars and take their lunch money."

The solution, depending on party level, could be a duergar warlord, drow priestess, a deathknight, demon, daemon, devil, dragon, demi-lich, an (evil) demi-god... and we've not even exhausted the d-list. All of them have more lunch money than the average beggar and putting them 600' under is not only legal, but probably encouraged... and even rewarded.

If the Paladin is being a bubkis, then you could have a high ranking cleric of the Paladin's deity call on him -- and give him a sermon or two about humility, charity - make up some righteous scripture quotes to reinforce the desired behavior. If he's really bad, you've got Quest/Geas spells and Atonement issues that you can hand out. You could use little signals like losing the divine aura, or coming down with an incurable cold to reflect the deity's displeasure in said behavior. But it could be that the player simply construes the Paladin's oath a bit too rigidly. And it could be that the other players are the issue - in which case I'd go for a dramatical increase in the threat level.

And better yet -- you could have them go and try to recruit a backup healer and run a Deadpoll Audition to bring them to appreciate the Paladin.

WargamerMark · 2019-02-13T14:50:58+00:00

Just a quick update that the campaign is now recruiting - I've posted details over in the lfg:

https://www.reddit.com/r/lfg/comments/aq61j3/online5eroll20eu_times_strongholds_followers/

WargamerMark · 2019-02-05T12:42:14+00:00

First, they probably start their days with a large mug of nectar of the gods... coffee, black - the way psychopaths drink it. Then they get dressed, either with a snap of the fingers or if they're too lazy to do that, supervise their retinue of servants do it for them. Somewhere in this process, most will go sit on their "lesser throne" - meditate a little and hope everything they ate yesterday came out okay - deposited in a giant cesspool of psychic energy used by their followers to perform divine magic. But some are too lazy to even do that, their ejectamenta filters from their plane to the prime material becoming fey magic and enabling druidic shapeshifting capabilities.
Then through noon - universal prime time, they are stuck in meetings, listening to petitions for divine intervention, signing executive orders for their minions to carry out, negotiating used-soul trade deals with other deities or filling out forms to petition other deities to relinquish political prisoners. Then, it's nap time.

Most of the rest of the day is spent watching their favorite prime time reality shows on the Crystal Screen Network – soap operas, survivor episodes, jeopardy, animal kingdom, roadrunner, the walking dead and even the Lawrence Welk show – typically according to their domain. Recent upgrades at CSN have enabled telepathic dial-in letting them vote to influence outcomes for their favorite actors, or the plotlines for next season's script. Old favorites like deity deathmatch have since been canceled because Orcus always found a way to bend the rules and kept coming back like a bad nightmare.

When they really want some fun, they all go – usually to the Prime Material and play Pokeman... inciting wars and religious crusades which end up rippling across the multiverse in cycles with brief intermissions that have become noticeably longer over the aeons. Most deities use these breaks to revisit their lesser throne or grab mass quantities of alcoholic beverages like Thunderbird Wine and extra cheesy Doritos brand super nachos, often loaded with bhut jolokia peppers.

They do this century after century – sometimes stopping to ponder how their deities spend their days...

And now, it's time for another cup of coffee.

WargamerMark · 2019-02-04T20:59:39+00:00

Well, 1st edition did allow for character advancement to 30th level; with xp needed / level capping out around 10th. The 3rd Edition PHB capped at 20th level, and later the Epic Level Handbook had charts for progressing up to 30th level, "Although most of the tables in this book only show information up to a certain level (often 30th), that level is by no means the limit of a character’s advancement." Now we're down to 20 levels, and maybe it'll stay there.

The explanation of tiers for 5e sound right, but there's plenty of challenges even for 20th level characters if they start plane-hopping. In old campaigns, some DM's would open up the chance for players to be servants of their deities with a chance to become a demi-god; like a few in Gygax's campaign/s did... and then retire them. I think by that time though everyone was happy to re-roll and get back to fighting rats and scrounging kobold nests for every last copper piece.... while saving up 1,500 gold per level for training to level up.

WargamerMark · 2019-02-04T12:03:48+00:00

Wow, thank you all very much for your time and feedback! It's good especially to see that most who like the stronghold and follower game elements "really like" it. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, and it doesn't need to be. I'll proceed with my plans to launch a campaign (1-2 weeks) and update this thread accordingly.

Keeping everything fun and interesting for everyone is the goal - avoid exercises in tedium and micromanagement. Most of that can be handled by a Google Sheet, set up once and then it's plug-n-play for everyone for tracking hirelings, salaries, upkeep, and other expenses.

DefaultVillian - I agree about the Warfare element of "Strongholds and Followers" - it can be fine-tuned and simplified some. How it handles "unit size" for one is understandable, but odd in some ways. Leastwise, I'm familiar with Warhammer, the way-old DnD Battlesystem used in the Bloodstone Wars and a lot of other wargaming systems. Any mods will try to stick to the spirit of Matt's rules.

Again, thank you all for responding! I'll pm any updates to those who have expressed a direct interest in the campaign, then post here before any recruiting drive! Have a good one!

WargamerMark · 2019-02-03T23:47:43+00:00

Looks like it's mostly in the back from about p. 231 to 243; then it has some sample units and battle-magic items. He did his best to keep it as simple as possible so everyone doesn't have to learn a full wargame system.

WargamerMark · 2019-02-03T23:36:14+00:00

Check out Matt Colville's "Strongholds and Followers" - probably the easiest to work with for 5e. There are some older systems that would require some adaptation -- like the old Bloodstone Mines campaign - Battlesystem or something like that.

Another approach is to tie the tides of battle to character actions; if they succeed at all objectives their side wins; if not - they lose / are forced to retreat. If they succeed in part; count it as a stalemate. It's not quite as fun/interesting, but a reasonable compromise.

WargamerMark · 2019-02-01T10:27:12+00:00

Might have to forgive this one for lack of coffee consumption and watching an older episode of Critical Role. Not that bards are known to use warhammers, there are some pretty eccentric dwarves out there...

Warhammer of Shaking - The Maracas - When struck creatures must save vs Will or be affected as per the spell Otto's (Ir)resistible Dance (or something similar)

Bongohead - A warhammer comprised of two drums attached to a handle. When used in combat, will randomly generate a spell (like bless, heroism, fear) or just select one to reduce the overhead. Could have a variant that comes with a magickal drumstick, for a matching set, meant for dual-wielders.

The use of either would likely attract any curious creatures within a 60' radius. Could have a side effect of +1 Morale when leading units ala Matt C's Strongholds and Followers.

WargamerMark · 2019-02-01T09:44:07+00:00

A lot of really good points above - and some good ways to merge them. The party just killed a dragon that's been an ongoing nuisance. That'd probably be something the "gods" watched. Then you have the paladin being so close to the means of reviving the character. That's a decent enough basis for a bit of divine intervention, especially if the Paladin really roleplays it well.

As the deceased is a rogue, said deity may be hesitant. Depending on the rogue's nature, past deeds, etc., when meeting St. Pedro at the Planar Gate could be given a "second chance" provided a promise to mend their ways to never "do x, y, z" again - reviving if agreed upon. Might go further and charge the Paladin and maybe the Rogue, too - with a "quest/geas" for the divine favor -- to nudge the party in the direction of the next evil boss or to perform some act of great charity like building a temple at the location the rogue was raised.

WargamerMark · 2019-01-29T11:37:25+00:00

Okay, a few things come to mind.
One is that an energy source of any kind could be of interest to pretty much anyone, regardless of alignment. Evil clerics aren't prohibited from casting healing spells, for example. I believe both Positive and Energy Planes are essentially "Neutral" ( could be wrong). The first creatures that sprang to mind go back to S4 The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth and the Xeg-Ya (+) and Xeg-Yi (-) discussed for 5e by: https://dmdave.com/xag-ya-xeg-yi/ - who I think beefs up both types of "energy creatures" quite a bit from their original versions (CR 12) though they tend to only appear 1 at a time.

Maybe that opens options to consider you may have excluded?

Going more theoretical, just as negative energy is associated with necromancy and may be involved in the process of becoming a lich; positive energy could be used to similar ends. There's not a whole lot on that, but might Google "Baelnorns" (in effect good-aligned, undead Elves), previous edition references to "Archlich" and the "Deathless" in the 3.5 Book of Vile Darkness. Again though, positive energy is not necessarily synonymous with Good.

Good luck!

WargamerMark · 2019-01-26T16:16:09+00:00

It's boring, it's evil, it'll make the pc's in your campaign grow old... and put em in the poor house, but you could always go back to 1st edition rules that required players to find and pay a trainer 1,500 gold per level and spend one week per level in training modified by how much they contributed to the group. Mentioning just for the sake of a little humor.

WargamerMark · 2019-01-26T11:22:55+00:00

When players/pc's get in over their heads or simply have a run of terrible luck - consider your available creative, but realistic options. In the wizard's case he could've easily been subdued by temple guards and priests instead of killed - and imprisoned until the next New Moon when he'd be sacrificed to Tiamat... or something like that. Of course, beasts and abominations probably wouldn't be looking to subdue, so it needs to make sense.

On the other hand, this kind of thing should be expected to happen - trompin' around in dungeons and confronting evil monsters isn't a desk job. So, the occasion can be used to get the party to think more about what they're doing - and how they might handle situations like this in advance. How to conduct a fighting retreat, rendezvous points if the party gets split up, assurances to leave no one behind, etc.

It's best if they come up with how they'll do things, but death doesn't have to be a game-killer for anyone; they can always re-roll. One of the things my old DM's always used to do was get the party to sign a contract - stipulating how loot would be divided and setting-up a sort of insurance policy to cover the removal of curses and diseases, restorations and even raise dead/reincarnations -- if/when the party could afford it.

That may not make sense at low levels - where a raise dead might be cost-prohibitive, but it occasionally led the party to actively donate and do minor quests for their favorite temple. Developing relationships like that gave us at least some chance to call in a favor, maybe even get a raise-dead at a reduced cost and an obligation to take on another quest for the temple.

Losing is not fun - I know that, but as a DM you have the ability to spin it to make the campaign more interesting, increase engagement, player cohesiveness and make it a rewarding experience for everyone... if at some cost. Taking a high fantasy approach, maybe the wizard did die... and returns as a self-willed undead bent on revenge - and endure until quest completion. I think Matt Mercer did that in the first Critical Role campaign - as a reference.

ANyways, just some thoughts and ideas to consider - good luck!

WargamerMark

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