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A week or so ago, David and I hit upon the idea of running a D&D game for the boys. They were basically playing pretend anyway, so it wasn't a huge jump to all of us playing pretend together. The boys were both behind the idea, so characters were made and white boards for mapping were purchased, along with a 1st level PDF dungeon crawl adventure from Goodman Games, since that's mostly the level of play they'd prefer at the moment anyway.
The characters were made largely by the children telling us what their characters were like and David and I figuring out how to match up their abilities in the game. We really didn't have them choose very much within the system, as it was a bit overwhelming for them. In truth, this would have worked far better in something like BESM, given that the children's visions of their characters are somewhat anime inspired, but since a) all my BESM books are in storage, b) pre-made adventures aren't in great supply, and c) I can borrow any of the books we need from work if I don't have them on hand, D&D ended up being the system of choice, at least for this game.
The game began at 1st level, mostly, and the characters are as follows:
Lord Alisdair: This human lordling is a paladin with a greatsword and a crossbow. His goal is to get a castle and develop his sword magic, as when he grows up, he is the Master of All Swords. This means mostly that he can have various effects appear from his sword... fire, ice, lightning, etc. We're figuring out how to design the class for that. We didn't worry about following a deity for him. His best stats are Charisma, Dex, and Intelligence. Oh, and he carries a stick, with which he occasionally stuns his opponents by bopping them on the head.
Strong William: This wild fighter is a barbarian with two greataxes. He is, as his name suggests, very strong -- 17 Str or so, I think, with Dex also pretty good. He also has a bow, which he almost never uses. He also has a magic shield we found, which again, he rarely uses. He tends to attack with two axes at once (and does remarkably well with the tactic), and is our go-to jump/climb/sneak/smash guy. He is destined to get "fire fists" at some level along the way.
Gianna: Named by Will (its gee-ana), this character is my cleric. Somebody had to keep the boys alive, after all. I may be destined for cleric-rogue, though, if only to keep things moving easily (and keep them from dying in traps). I made up a monster-killing sun god to follow who grants me the Sun and War domains. Best stat is easily Wisdom, followed by Charisma. I get a small bonus on most things, though -- and I have a falchion. Go me.
More to come....
The characters were made largely by the children telling us what their characters were like and David and I figuring out how to match up their abilities in the game. We really didn't have them choose very much within the system, as it was a bit overwhelming for them. In truth, this would have worked far better in something like BESM, given that the children's visions of their characters are somewhat anime inspired, but since a) all my BESM books are in storage, b) pre-made adventures aren't in great supply, and c) I can borrow any of the books we need from work if I don't have them on hand, D&D ended up being the system of choice, at least for this game.
The game began at 1st level, mostly, and the characters are as follows:
Lord Alisdair: This human lordling is a paladin with a greatsword and a crossbow. His goal is to get a castle and develop his sword magic, as when he grows up, he is the Master of All Swords. This means mostly that he can have various effects appear from his sword... fire, ice, lightning, etc. We're figuring out how to design the class for that. We didn't worry about following a deity for him. His best stats are Charisma, Dex, and Intelligence. Oh, and he carries a stick, with which he occasionally stuns his opponents by bopping them on the head.
Strong William: This wild fighter is a barbarian with two greataxes. He is, as his name suggests, very strong -- 17 Str or so, I think, with Dex also pretty good. He also has a bow, which he almost never uses. He also has a magic shield we found, which again, he rarely uses. He tends to attack with two axes at once (and does remarkably well with the tactic), and is our go-to jump/climb/sneak/smash guy. He is destined to get "fire fists" at some level along the way.
Gianna: Named by Will (its gee-ana), this character is my cleric. Somebody had to keep the boys alive, after all. I may be destined for cleric-rogue, though, if only to keep things moving easily (and keep them from dying in traps). I made up a monster-killing sun god to follow who grants me the Sun and War domains. Best stat is easily Wisdom, followed by Charisma. I get a small bonus on most things, though -- and I have a falchion. Go me.
More to come....
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no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 08:41 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 08:50 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 11:43 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 12:00 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 09:09 am (UTC)From:Gaming Twins
Date: 2004-11-12 09:36 am (UTC)From:In any case - gaming with kids is great great fun.
Re: Gaming Twins
Date: 2004-11-12 10:21 am (UTC)From:Re: Gaming Twins
Date: 2004-11-12 10:26 am (UTC)From:Of course, she might have to rebel by, like, cheerleading and being born again or something. Oh, the shame.
Re: Gaming Twins
Date: 2004-11-12 10:43 am (UTC)From:Re: Gaming Twins
Date: 2004-11-12 11:41 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 10:02 am (UTC)From:For Lord Alisdair's Master of All Swords ability, the Spellsword prestige class might fit. It would require picking up quite a few levels of Sorceror first, though. Hmmm...uh-oh, I really like his idea, and now I'm thinking about this too much...
<thinking out loud>
Eberron establishes that the ability to use a minor Spell-like ability once per day (Least Dragonmark) is a suitable use for a Feat, provided you put some simple restrictions ("appropriate race and house") on it. The next feat in the chain provides another spell-like ability, as well as an extra use of the previous ability.
The Flaming weapon quality is a +1 equivalent ability, and Magic Weapon (which imparts a +1 bonus to a weapon) is a 1st level spell. Then again, to create flaming ammunition is a 3rd level spell. Maybe call it even and say that a spell that imparts the Flaming quality to a melee weapon is 2nd level?
Eberron's Artificers have a 1st-level Infusion that lets them switch any weapon with an energy type to a weapon of any other energy type. It does have a non-trivial material component cost (50 gp) so maybe it should be thought of as a 2nd level spell-like ability.
The Dragonmark Heir prestige class is a 5-level prestige class that does nothing much but grant and improve Feats that grant spell-like abilities. So perhaps a reasonable prestige class setup would be this:
Prerequisite: Weapon Focus (Some kind of sword), +4 BAB, and the abiity to cast 1st-level arcane spells.
1st Level: Impart one type of energy (player's choice) to a sword once per day.
2nd Level: Impart one of two types of energy (player's choice) to a sword twice per day.
3rd Level: Impart one of three types of energy (player's choice) to a sword three times per day.
4th Level: Impart one of four types of energy (player's choice) to a sword four times per day.
5th level: Impart one of five types of energy (player's choice) to a sword five times per day.
Not sure what the Hit Dice, BAB, Class Skills, or Saving Throws would apply, but you get the idea.
Since he's a Paladin, it would be really cool if he combined it with some of the feats from the Book of Exalted Deeds...like Sanctify Martial Strike and Consecrate Spell-Like Ability! Woo-hoo! An appropriate magical aura for every occasion!
no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 11:59 am (UTC)From: (Anonymous)Plus he gets to stare meaningfully into the distance and cry "show me the evil!" every once in a while.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 01:07 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 01:30 pm (UTC)From:[instead they were the D&D is of the DEVIL-type]
no subject
Date: 2004-11-13 12:27 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2004-11-14 03:59 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2004-11-14 03:59 am (UTC)From:So I learned how to be sneaky. :)