Short version:
I have a character that I would very much like to play, and so I am looking for a GM who would be willing to run a D&D3.5 game for me using Gestalt and Oslecamo's Improved monster classes. I'm not interested in just a basic dungeon crawl, however; I'm looking for an interesting and engaging story-telling experience that will allow her to grow and mature as an individual as she progresses and explores whatever story line(s) she joins. If this doesn't sound absolutely horrible to you, please read on.
Long version:
Introduction:
When she finally woke up, the pain was gone. Evidently, He'd gotten sick of torturing her -- or, as He called it,
conducting His tests. A miasma of magical energy hung in the laboratory like a fog that never dissipated, but she knew that meant nothing. He could have been gone for days, or perhaps merely minutes.
Time holds no meaning in a wizard's lab -- especially when you're the subject of study. And without a window to see the sky or to bring the sounds of the forests animals, there was no way for her to know how much time had passed. Today, however, she could tell that it was raining; the rich scent of damp earth and soggy wood somehow managed to penetrate the thick stone walls of the tower. She sniffed delicately, tasting the air.
Pine forest, she decided.
Mid to late spring. She frowned, and shifted against the hard floor of her cage. She had
not passed a full season in this place! There was absolutely no way!
There wasn't... right?
How long has it been? she wondered.
How long since my capture? Even thinking that word left her tongue feeling like she'd eaten slimy moss.
Captured. And in those moments of weakness, the wizard had slaughtered the rest of the tribe. And she? Taken as a trohpy; as a curiosity: to be studied, to be mocked, to be tortured, and finally, to be dissected. Like prey.
Not even that, she realized, and anger stirred the barbarian blood within her veins.
I'm not even given the basic respect given to those whose death turns the Wheel of Life! He had no respect for nature -- of that, she was quite sure. He was cruel, condescending, and arrogant to every being and every beast, to the sky and to the land; He had absolutely no understanding or regard for the Wheel or its purpose, and she hated him for it with every fiber of her being.
If only! she wished with all of her heart,
If only I could get out of this cage! She held no delusion of successfully defeating him; he'd proven more powerful than all of the elders combined. But in battle, she could be redeemed; death through combat would allow her to rejoin the Wheel and move on to her next incarnation, instead of remaining as she was now -- stuck. Trapped.
Helpless.
Shame ignited her anger, and she surged to her feet to beat once again at the implacable adamantine bars. It was hopeless, she knew; neither teeth nor claw had left any mark whatsoever on the gleaming metal. And still, she had to
try! Her hands lashed out and tugged at the bars with all of her might, but just like the last time--
Wait, hands?
She found herself staring at the bars, where two hands -- her hands, she realized -- held on for dear life. Her eyes tracked backwards; hands lead to arms, attached to the same kind of muscular yet squishy bodies that the rest of her tribe had possessed. Legs -- two of them -- ended in weird lumpy foot pads. Somehow, she had become like the others of her tribe.
Human. Strangely, though, she still felt like herself inside. She could still feel claw and tooth and ferocious anger, and instinctively she knew that if she called upon them, they would come. She knew she'd been blessed with another chance.
How do I use this? How do I get out? New and awkward fingers fumbled with the lock on the cage, and failed to open it. She growled in low frustration as she tried to force the latch again, but it merely rattled loudly in the frame.
"Who's there?" A trembling voice called from outside the door, and even as she froze in fear she realized that it wasn't Him; the voice was full of timidity and callow youth. She thought of the raids her tribe had organized against the outsiders, and the way they'd sometimes lured unprepared travelers away from the roads. The beginnings of a plan started to congeal in her brain.
"Help," she said in a hoarse whisper. It was foolhardy -- to even attempt to utter the Words of Enticement as her first speech -- but she had nothing to lose. And this might be her only opportunity to escape -- and seek revenge. She coughed, and cleared her throat. "Please," she said more clearly. "Help me!"
The door rattled against the frame, and the boy's voice called through the door. "You're not supposed to be in there," he said. He meant to sound authoritative, but she could tell that he was intrigued -- like a rabbit sniffing its way into a dead-fall. "Help," she said again, and an entire history of unused vocabulary started assembling itself in her head like magic. "Please let me out!"
"Hold on, hold on," he said, and for a long time nothing happened. She wondered if he'd taken the bait, or if he'd smelled the trap and run away. She tried not to think about what would happen if the boy had gone to get Him. But then she heard the scrape of a key, the thick wooden door to the laboratory swung open, and the two of them were face to face.
It was a boy, she realized; if he'd been a member of her tribe he probably would have been the right age to take his rites of maturity. However, she could see that he never would have survived. He looked pale and sickly, and his muscles were thin and weak. The boy looked nothing like Him. Yet, they shared something -- a similar look, a similar smell, a similar
feel -- and her skin crawled in revulsion. The boy wasn't Him -- the one who had tortured her -- but he was of the same tribe. She watched him with wary eyes, and asked, "Who are you?"
For his part, the boy gawked back at her, and his face was painted with clear surprise. "What the--" he said, then caught himself; he looked her over again, and his mouth moved without sound. Finally, he tore his gaze up to her face. "I'm Bruven, the protege and head apprentice of Master Draech." He walked gingerly towards the cage, glancing around the lab, and a large ring of keys dangled lazily from one hand. To her disappointment he stopped well out of reach and looked at her cautiously. "You don't look entirely human," he said. "Are you some kind of demon or devil?"
She blinked back in confusion. "I don't even know what those are," she said.
The boy nodded slowly, and examined the laboratory again. "There's no paraphernalia here for planar summonings anyway," he said, and began flipping through the keys on the ring. He finally found the one he wanted, and slid it into the lock on her cage. She smiled at the satisfying sound of a click. "Besides," he continued, "This is magical beasts laboratory. How did you get in there?"
"He put me in here," she said, and thrust her hand through the bars and into the boy's chest. As she'd expected, her claws had appeared as soon as she needed them. The boy's eyes bugged wide in surprise, and then the light vanished and he was slumping to the floor. She pushed the cage door open, and stepped gingerly into the lab. Into freedom! She left the door to her cage -- indeed, the doors to all of the cages -- standing wide open, the same way she'd left the door to the laboratory, and the heavy front door of the tower itself. She vanished joyfully, thankfully, into the damp cool air of that foreign pine forest. The time would come to return, she knew, but first? First, she need rest: to eat natural food, to figure out where she was, to figure out this strange new form, and perhaps most of all, to reclaim her sense of self. Then, however -- once she had grown, and studied, and prepared, and was ready -- then she would seek her revenge. The Hunt would begin. And this time, there would be no capture. No disgrace! And as the great stone tower disappeared into the forest behind her, she promised herself that when she finally succeeded -- when his life was slowly ebbing away to feed the motion of the Wheel -- she would not make the same mistake. She would pay him the respect he was due -- as
prey.
Overview:
So, as I said in the short version, I have this character that I would like to further explore -- the short story above is her basic background. Effectively, she is a rare magical creature that was found as a newborn and raised as a pet by a tribe of human barbarians (who had absolutely no idea what she was). Later on, her tribe was wiped out and she was taken for study by a wizard. Over the course of approximately a year of magical experimentation, she gained the ability to shift into a humanoid form -- it's not perfect, but close enough. Using this new ability, she escaped the lab, and is now trying to figure out how to get revenge/justice. Doing so, however, will require that she find her way through the wider world -- and as she learns more, will what she discovers change how she thinks about herself, her place in the world, and the wizard she's hunting?
I want to know! Who's willing to help me find out?
What I'm Looking For:
- Crunchy Stuff: Mechanically I would like a cinematic level of play, using
- Oslecamo's Improved Monster Classes et. al. (http://www.minmaxboards.com/in...21lg3&board=34.0 -- as you can probably guess, I've already chosen),
- Gestalt (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/vari...estaltCharacters.htm), and
- Generous creation and advancement guidelines -- something like the following, although I'd be open to discussion/negotiation.
- 30 to 40 point buy for attributes
- Ability score increases (every fourth level) increase two different scores by +1
- Either double standard feat progression (ie, 2 every 3rd level) or pathfinder feat progression (1 feat every 2nd level)
- 1-2 extra skill points per level (x4 at 1st level) which must be spent on either craft skills, profession skills, or cross-class skills.
- Fractional BAB and Save bonuses
- Experience gained through involvement/participation/story advancement instead of through combat or ad hoc rewards
- Hit points generated at a fixed rate (such as "half plus half" or "3/4 rate")
- Standard enemies, unless they're story important.
- Starting level: somewhere in the range of 5th to 9th
- Story Stuff: Thematically, I would like a story-driven game, with
- an overarching story line that explores interesting thematic questions,
- character driven subplots,
- combat that is about advancing the plot (and being awesome).
- Other Stuff: Functionally, I would like an engaging game with progress; towards that end I would like:
- a GM who can write clearly (or who is willing to make use of spell- and grammar-check). (Note: I try very hard not to be elitist about language, but homophone confusion/substitution drives me absolutely nuts. I can't help it; it offends my brain.)
- a solo game -- at least to start. It would be nice to eventually expand into something more group oriented, but I think I would prefer to begin by establishing my own character's plot line (and hooks) alone.
- an adult game (preferably).
- a general expectation of 1 to 3 posts per week.
Although I'm sure there's more I haven't mentioned, that is the bulk of my request. If/As I think of more details I'll update this post. Please feel free to contact me by rMail (preferred) or reply here if you think you might be interested; I'd be happy to talk over the details with you.
J.
FAQ:
- Q: What is "fractional BAB and Save bonus"?
A: It's a way to make Gestalt characters more "fair", in that they don't get the bonus +2 for good saves more than once. Basically, good saves increase by 1/2; bad saves increase by 1/3. The first time you get a good save you get an additional +2.
- Q: What are "half plus half" and "3/4 rate"?
A: Basically, it's a way of determining hit points so that you get the average result at every level beyond first. It's shorthand for "for each hit die, take half of the die maximum, then add half a point." So, for example, clerics have a d8 hit die; using half plus half, the cleric would get 4.5 additional hit points every level, or 1 "additional" hit point every other level (2.5 for d4, 3.5 for d6, 4.5 for d8, 5.5 for d10, 6.5 for d12). 3/4 rate, on the other hand, basically determines hit points as approximately three quarters of the maximum possible. The cleric from the previous example would get 6 hit points every level (3 for d4, 4.5 for d6, 6 for d8, 7.5 for d10, 9 for d12).
- Q: Why does it have to be an adult game?
A: It doesn't. However, I would prefer an adult game for two basic reasons. First, while putting up the adult flag certainly doesn't guarantee a basic level of maturity, it definitely encourages it. I'm in the last blossoms of youth (which is to say, I don't consider myself middle-aged yet), and I find that I prefer exploring the richer tapestry of moral greys than I did when I was younger. Therefore, I would like to find a GM that shares that appreciation, and I think that is more likely with an older GM. Second, if the story is compelling, I don't want to have to stop writing simply because the rating isn't right. My goal isn't "gratuitous sex/violence/rock n' roll"; it's writing what is compelling and impactful for the character. And that sometimes requires an adult rating -- so I'd rather "start with it and not need it" than "not start with it and need it".
- Q: Why are you asking for so much? Are you just trying to avoid all the challenges?
A: I'll admit that I am asking for quite a bit -- and that's without even getting into the specific character builds I'm interested in. However, I am actually quite interested in being challenged -- just not in the typical "MOAR COMBAT" direction that most D&D games tend to prefer. If, as a potential GM, you're looking at what I've written and thinking, "wow, that seems overpowered," then we will likely not mesh well -- mostly because combat power shouldn't be the sole (or even major) determiner of challenge/success. For this request, encounters shouldn't be about whether or not <enemy X> was defeated; experience and growth should not be based on whether you've slaughtered ten, a hundred, or a thousand goblins/ogres/dragons/tarrasques. That's not to say that there isn't a place for such games; they can be a MonkeyBarrel of fun. In this game, however, I would like encounters to be about relationships and consequences, and for experience/growth to be about character development -- achieving personal goals, learning hard lessons, and making important decisions.
- Q: Are monkey-barrels the actual unit for fun?
A: Why, yes. Yes, they are. It's actually part of the SI standard. Most scientists, however, prefer to work in milli-, micro-, or even nano-MonkeyBarrels, all of which are more appropriate for everyday use.
This message was last edited by the user at 21:51, Sun 15 Feb 2015.
