DSS Characters (how to play)

Forum for online DragonMech game "Destiny of Steam and Steel."

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Charke
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DSS Characters (how to play)

Post by Charke »

Contact me (Mark Charke, MCharke@aol.com) before posting anywhere in the Desitny of Steam and Steel section.
Only players should be posting in this area, although anyone is welcome to read the game in progress.

This game is 3.5 Dungeons and Dragons.

Characters are 5th level. You may generate virtually any sort of character you wish. You can use any of the classes in the Players Handbook although I highly recomend a character with at least some levels in a DragonMech class.

Characters start off with 9000gp starting gold as per the DMG rules. This is hardly enough to buy a mech but there should be opportunities to pilot mechs as the game goes on. You may not buy any magic items which require a character of higher than 10th level to make (no weapons or armor with a higher than +3 bonus for example). Otherwise I'll let you play pretty much whatever you want.

I love half dragons but you may not use the 3.5 halfdragon as it is hiddeously broken (over-powered). I have converted the 2nd Ed halfdragon netbook to 3.5 if you need rules.

Once you have a character post it in it's own thread. (New Thread with the name of your character as a title.) If you really insist on keeping secrets from other players you may omit a few details (most players won't read your character sheet anyway - I leave the adventures out where my players can see them. It doesn't change anything).
Last edited by Charke on Fri Jun 17, 2005 12:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
Charke
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Campaign Outline and About your DM

Post by Charke »

Campaign Outline
I do not have one yet. You will be starting off on the citymech Neddirpik and deal with some problems on the mech to start off with. Online games are a little slow so I'm in no rush. In a couple of weeks or so, those problems should be solved and I will have the campaign focus all worked out.

I intend to post 1-3 times a week. I hope everyone can post at least once a week. Any slower and I'll yell and scream at you in emotes. Even a really short post is better than nothing. "Yup I'll go along with that." Or "Cool!". Remember to set your login to "remember you" so it's that much easier to post when you visit the site.

About your DM
I'm Mark Charke. I've run online games for years and years but I stopped a while back because I got a really solid offline gaming group. I came back to it as a shameless method of self-promotion to help my budding writing career. Besides, it's a heck of a lot of fun. I'm also involved in a Slaine campaign over on Mongoose Publishing's website. Finally I wrote a chunk of the material you will find in DragonMech: SteamWarriors.

E-mail me or Private Message Me, or reply here on this thread if you want to play. I have 2 players and plan to accept up to 6.

MCDM
Alfa Romeo
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Post by Alfa Romeo »

yahoo! it's Nate from karate. im up for playing. is there any race/class geared towards mecha repair/construction? i'd be into that.
Charke
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Post by Charke »

yahoo! it's Nate from karate. im up for playing. is there any race/class geared towards mecha repair/construction? i'd be into that.
Nate, you are welcome to play but I will insist you take the time to write properly. Mostly it's just caps!! I'll loan you DragonMech sometime. I bought a digital copy anyway I can refer to for a while.
Yahoo! It's Nate from karate. I'm up for playing. Is there any race/class geared towards mecha repair/construction? I'd be into that.
Mark Charke
Ca'el Garsah
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Post by Ca'el Garsah »

Hi Mark,

I would like to join.

Chris A.
Have a good day..................................
Charke
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Post by Charke »

By all means Chris. Like I've indicated to everyone else, a copy of DragonMech would be handy. I'll see if I can scoop another copy as a loaner next time I'm in Richmond. If I bump into you this Wednesday we can discuss it.

Mark Charke
Paladin 73
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Post by Paladin 73 »

Hey Mark; I'll need to see a copy of the book, but I am eager to join in.

Carey
S.M.A.K.I.B.B.F.B.
Charke
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Post by Charke »

Carey, Chris, Nathan,

I'm afraid I only have one copy of the book to loan out. As I am pushing the campaign, I'll cough up for a second, but I also recomend buying DragonMech. Its an intresting new system and I might run a live game as well some time.

Grey Haven Hobbies in White Rock BC Canada can get you a copy by next week. (http://www.charke.ca/GreyHavens/grey_haven_hobbies.htm)Alternatively you can get PDF copies from RPGnow (www.RPGnow.com) or the Drive Thru RPG (www.drivethroughrpg.com) with a credit card or paypal.

Mark Charke
Orin
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Post by Orin »

I am also eager to join the campaign. I have almost all of the DragonMech books sitting on the shelf behind me except the Mech Manual (on backorder).
Charke
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Post by Charke »

I am also eager to join the campaign. I have almost all of the DragonMech books sitting on the shelf behind me except the Mech Manual (on backorder).
By all means. Write up a 5th-level character and post that character in a new thread. I am just painfully waiting for the other players to get their characters organized - but I'm ready to start!

Mark Charke
Reese
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Post by Reese »

I guess you are up to your 6 players, what i get for being slow about asking to join. :roll:

Regardless, i'll be watching your campaign with interest, yup. ^_^
Namfoodle "Sparklediver" Raulnor
{Wounds -12; HP = 11/23}
Charke
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Post by Charke »

Destiny of Steam and Steel
Give Me Characters So I Can Give Thee Death
I guess you are up to your 6 players, what i get for being slow about asking to join.

Regardless, i'll be watching your campaign with interest, yup. ^_^
I am at ZERO players. I do not mean to offend anyone but I really want keeners and people who post. Most people have only posted once to suggest interest. No one is official until I see a character. And 6 players is a guide. If I let 10 people join, I can expect to get 4 people who post often and a bunch who post infrequently - so 6 players isn't cast in stone.

However, yes, I'm closing the door behind you for a week to give everyone who has expressed interest a fair chance to get a character posted.

By July 4th, if you don't have a character posted here, I will invite others to take your spot. Get me a character done please!!

Current invities are:
Alfa Romeo (Nate)
Ca'el Garsah (Chris)
Paladin 73 (Carey)
Orin (real name unknown)
Reese (real name unknown)
Mythfish (real name unknown) (pm'd me about the game)

Get a character done, even if its not a DragonMech character. You'll have plenty of time to make changes later.

MCDM
Reese
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Post by Reese »

In that case, are there any particular suplements that are/aren't allowed for character creation? I'll completely understand if you're not allowing anything beyond the core D&D books and the dragonmech books released to date, of course.
Namfoodle "Sparklediver" Raulnor
{Wounds -12; HP = 11/23}
Charke
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Post by Charke »

In that case, are there any particular suplements that are/aren't allowed for character creation? I'll completely understand if you're not allowing anything beyond the core D&D books and the dragonmech books released to date, of course.
I try to allow anything. I started D&D because I could play non-human characters. If you want something from outside of the normal realm of DragonMech it will have to come in from another plane - which isn't a problem.

3.5 halfdragons are banned because they are too powerful. I wrote a serries of 2nd rules for half dragons and they are mostly converted to 3rd if you want to play a half dragon.

A number of spells are banned - fireshield, divine power, divine favor and a few other sickly powerful ones (although I've got to rethink some of them with the 3.5 changes).

I won't "change" an existing class/prestige class/feat/spell to "fix" it because there is too much bias involved. If I find something that is too powerful, I simply won't allow it.

I'm not a big fan of web rules and generally don't allow them. They have a strong tendancy towards being over powered.

There are a few odd prestige classes and feats from a variety of books which are too powerful but I don't want to write it all out. Further, online, it may not be a problem like it is in live games. Online the DM pretty much takes care of combat. Just write your character and I'll mention if there are any problems.

At 5th level, if you've got skill check bonuses in the +20 range, an armor class over 30, ability scores above 22, saves above +8 and so forth - I'll have to indicate there is a problem.

Mark Charke
Orin
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Post by Orin »

Is there a particular format you wish us to use for the character sheet?

Orin is the real name as well as the 'nick ;-)
Reese
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Post by Reese »

And, speaking of format...

What rolling method(s) would you prefer we use?

My normal rolling method that i use for the campaign i am in IRL is a bit over-powered, so i don't think i should use it here. On the other hand, i don't think it would do me any good to bring 3d6 6 times place as rolled to a high powered campaign.
(Funny story, that. My first game i ever played(2nd ed.) we used that, and i ended up with a 17 charisma and everything else mediocre, so they made me a paladin. Paladin is not a good class for a first time player.)
Namfoodle "Sparklediver" Raulnor
{Wounds -12; HP = 11/23}
Alfa Romeo
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Post by Alfa Romeo »

what method should we use to derive our ability scores?
Charke
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Post by Charke »

Is there a particular format you wish us to use for the character sheet?
Yup. If you could put them in standard NPC formats that would be fantastic.

Splack Smith
Coglayer 3, Mech Jockey 1: CR 4; Medium-size humanoid (human); HD 5+3d4+3; hp 16; Init +7; Spd 30 ft.; AC 16, touch 13, flat footed: 13; Base Atk +3; Mech Atk +1; Grp +2; Atk +4 melee (1d4+1 19-20/x2, dagger) or Atk +4 ranged (1d4-1 19-20/x2, dagger); SA —; SQ Machine empathy, Exotic Weapon Proficiency, Mech Weapon Proficiency, integrated parts, 6 steam parts, Extraordinary pilot, mech fingers-warrior instinct, hand speed; AL N; SV F+2, R+6, W+4; Str: 13, Dex 16, Con 13, Int: 14, Wis: 12, Cha: 10.

Skills and Feats: Climb +3, Craft (blacksmith) +9, Craft (mechcraft) +9, Disable Device +9, Knowledge (arcana) +9, Knowledge (local) +9, Knowledge (mechs) +9, Knowledge (Steam Engines) +9, Listen +8, Mech Pilot +11, Spot +4; Mechwalker, Quickdraw, Weapon Finesse, Power Attack, Improved Initiative

Spells Known (DC, (5)/4/4/4/4): 0th-spells;1st-spell, spell, spell. [sorcerer]
Spells Prepared (DC, (5)/4/4/4/4): 0th-spell, spell, spellx2; 1st-spellx4, spell etc. [Wizard]

Possessions: Pilot’s armor, short sword, Left Hook.


what method should we use to derive our ability scores?
Use standard 3.5 rules. In this case that is 4d6, drop the lowest and arrange to taste.
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Post by Orin »

Cool - I'll post my Dwarven Coglayer in the next 24 hours. I assume that Steam Power components come out of our $9,000? I'm working straight out of DragonMech and Steam Warriors, so there won't be anything unusual for this PC.
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Post by Charke »

Cool - I'll post my Dwarven Coglayer in the next 24 hours. I assume that Steam Power components come out of our $9,000? I'm working straight out of DragonMech and Steam Warriors, so there won't be anything unusual for this PC.
All expenses come out of starting gold. You start with 9000gp (you do not get the 1st level starting gold of 1-300gp, just the 9000gp). You can buy whatever you wish, provided a 10th level or lower character can create the items you wish to buy.

Incidently metamagic rods and anything that lowers the cost of metamagicing spells is banned. This harkens back to the sudden-maximized/sudden-quickened cone of cold incident that took out some players of mine.

MCDM
Orin
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Post by Orin »

This is hardly enough to buy a mech but there should be opportunities to pilot mechs as the game goes on.
The Barbagula, Bastion, Totem and Fangbiter all come in well under 9,000 GP (I don't have the Mech Manual yet so there may be more). Are players restricted from using them? (some of these mechs have a crew requirement > 1). What are the restrictions on mech purchase?

Also - with steam powers - do we just go with the straight cost? I ask because I notice that the Descrambler has a listed cost of 320 GP, though in materials it mentions that a selection of locks worth at least 1,000 GP is necessary to construct the item. In the building steam powers section (p54, DMech) it says that the building cost is included. I'm just having trouble reconciling 320 with 1000 GP. I don't see anything about this in the FAQ.

Finally, if I combine a Steam Gun with two amplifiers and a ranger, what would the stats come out as? My interpretation of page 55 is that the steam gun would go from 1d10 200ft (p127) to 1d20 600ft with +1 due to the ranger. Does this fit with your interpretation of the rules?
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Post by Charke »

The Barbagula, Bastion, Totem and Fangbiter all come in well under 9,000 GP (I don't have the Mech Manual yet so there may be more). Are players restricted from using them? (some of these mechs have a crew requirement > 1). What are the restrictions on mech purchase?
I have no problems with players buying mechs. It would be very useful for the game. I never looked at the costs. I did not realize there were mechs that cheap.
Also - with steam powers - do we just go with the straight cost? I ask because I notice that the Descrambler has a listed cost of 320 GP, though in materials it mentions that a selection of locks worth at least 1,000 GP is necessary to construct the item. In the building steam powers section (p54, DMech) it says that the building cost is included. I'm just having trouble reconciling 320 with 1000 GP. I don't see anything about this in the FAQ.
The 1000gp of keys are only required to build the device and are not needed later. You can "rent" the required keys for 10% of their value. You can buy the keys and later resell them for 50% of their value. As we have not started playing you have no friends you can borrow them from.

DragonMech is a new system but it is very complicated. My rule of thumb is build it - if it's an obvious problem, do something different. I put together some colossal sized steam powers which did upwards of 600d10 damage or some outrageous figure.
Finally, if I combine a Steam Gun with two amplifiers and a ranger, what would the stats come out as? My interpretation of page 55 is that the steam gun would go from 1d10 200ft (p127) to 1d20 600ft with +1 due to the ranger. Does this fit with your interpretation of the rules?
That looks fine.

Mark Charke
Reese
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Post by Reese »

Charke wrote:At 5th level, if you've got skill check bonuses in the +20 range, an armor class over 30, ability scores above 22, saves above +8 and so forth - I'll have to indicate there is a problem.

Mark Charke
hehe, we havn't the funds for AC over 25, i think, and diplomacy is the only skill i know how to get over 20 (all those synergy bonuses :? ) but i think i could pull off a save greater than 8 :)

is that with or without class features and feats that boost saves (a paladin with a very high charisma could easily have +8s on all saves...)

not that i'm planning on doing the above with my character, mind you...
(i'm agonizing over the feats and skills right now, but i can tell you my highest save is a +7 and next highest is a +5 )

(what would the engineers of nedderpik consider controlled substances, i wonder... being a largely lawful community, i supose they would restrict poison... do you suppose they search all boarders?)
Namfoodle "Sparklediver" Raulnor
{Wounds -12; HP = 11/23}
Charke
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Post by Charke »

(what would the engineers of nedderpik consider controlled substances, i wonder... being a largely lawful community, i supose they would restrict poison... do you suppose they search all boarders?)
Boarding guards on Nidderpik would take reasonable precautions in searching you, unless you give them cause to become more suspicious. They will make use of common sense - if you board armed, they will take more time and care to check you out. If you are a mess of scars and intimidating in appearance this would also raise a warning flag. Armor, weapons, a spellbook, wizards robes, obviously magical gear is going to make them watch you more closely.

Poison is a major issue because of the communal water system.

However, sorcerers and coglayers - equally dangerous to a mech - are both let on board so something like a few grams of a fatal substance really isn't going to be an issue. If they caught you with it they would confiscate it and destroy the substance and you would be denied entrance (ie. write up another character or sneak on board).

Diplomacy is an important skill in situation and could get you permission to remained armed, to get on board faster and to secure better treatment. Telling the crew you have weapons is better than getting caught with them later.

MCDM
Reese
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Post by Reese »

I couldn't make the character i had in mind work properly, i couldn't reconcile his nessesary class skills and class abilities with the requirements to gain long-term residency on nedderpik

not to mention that it would have been awfully funny to ahve a ninja wandering around the corridors of a dwarven city mech :twisted:
(ninja base class from complete adventurer, if you were wondering)

So i took my character in an entierly different direction, where the skills don't make the class, and i should have the spell list and equipment tomorrow

------
Orin wrote:Finally, if I combine a Steam Gun with two amplifiers and a ranger, what would the stats come out as? My interpretation of page 55 is that the steam gun would go from 1d10 200ft (p127) to 1d20 600ft with +1 due to the ranger. Does this fit with your interpretation of the rules?
I think you would need to use a boiler to enhance a steam gun, not an amplifier... physical force vs. energy
Namfoodle "Sparklediver" Raulnor
{Wounds -12; HP = 11/23}
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