Snake Eyes: The Serpent War Campaign

Hey, all! Hope everyone enjoyed their summer, but as the summer burns itself out, many of us head back to school, and that means Otep gets runnin' again. One of these games will be mine, set in the year 190 GD, chronicling the Serpent War.

What is the Serpent War?
The Serpent War broke out in 190 GD and was Demogorgon's biggest attempt to dominate the entire continent of Otep. His generals launched attacks on multiple Imperial strongholds while Drowning Simon ravaged the seas and Serpent cult assassins killed every member of the royal family (with one minor exception). Gerkos the poet lay dead at a crossroads, leaving the Empire to fend for itself against the rising tide of madness and depravity flowing steadily out of the south.

What are the game mechanics?
Well, I initially announced Dungeons and Dragons 3.5. I know there's bound to be some folks out there demanding 4th Edition, and they're out of luck in this case; I personally believe that 4th Edition is very good at representing iconic fantasy concepts like the sneaky halfling rogue, the eccentric elven wizard, and the crusading human paladin, but rather lackluster for anything else.

However, this will not be a straight 3.5 game. Over the summer, myself and some others were introduced to Pathfinder, a third-party suppliment for 3.5 dubbed "D&D 3.75." Essentially, it's a retrospective rewrite of the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide in which the core classes are worth taking from 1 to 20, rather than grabbing the 1 to 6 level dip before prestige classes. The Pathfinder book can be downloaded from paizo.net after creating a free account, or you can drop me an email and I'll send it along as a .pdf. ARGO will also be buying a physical copy of the book soon. Please note that nothing has been removed (well, maybe a few Druid class features, but it was unbalanced anyway), so all your favorite classes should still do what they used to and more. Also, it's completely compatible with all the other books.

There will most assuredly be some people who either can't get the Pathfinder .pdf or simply don't want to use it. That's fine, you don't have to. Feel free to use the regular old PG if you prefer, you can still play.

To represent Otep's steady descent down the power curve to Epic Level 6, this game will be Epic Level 10. You can find the capstones below. You don't gain a feat immediately upon reaching level 10, but most games will be with level 10 characters anyway. Theoretically, I should have people start at level 5 or so and build their way up, but Otep has never been a setting about tasteful restraint, so the hell with it.

Creating Characters
Character creation will be via the standard method. That is, roll 4d6, reroll a 1 if you rolled any, then keep the highest three. Do this six times, decide you don't have enough 16s, and reroll the whole set two more times. Speaking seriously, I won't be too strict on stats; I don't expect anyone to come in with all stats below a 16 or to have more than one negative modifier, but don't get flustered if I take issue when you show up with a character that has a minimum +2 modifier for everything, including 3 18s.

First level hitpoints will be the maximum for your class plus your CON mod, as normal (Pathfinder suggests other methods, but I find this one to be the most flexible). Roll all other hit dice normally. If your rolls are in the 40th percentile or lower you can reroll, but please don't keep rolling until all your d10s are at least an 8; be reasonable.

Build your character to level ten, then roll 1d3 (or a d4, and reroll on a 4). You get that many bonus feats to start. If you roll a one and reroll it, I will find you and punish you for your lies. You'll gain one bonus feat for every session you complete, up to ten. Although if everyone who shows up just happened to roll a 3 for their initial feats, you might not. I can do that, I'm the GM.

You can use any 3.5 book you want, including Expanded Psionics Handbook and Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords. You can even use stuff from settings, like Eberron Campaign Setting and Underdark, but keep in mind that you'll always have 0 action points and aren't from any region of Faerun.
Just some quick rules reminders on the more powerful stuff:
-Any one character cannot have more than 2 Devotion feats, and that character must actively promote the objects of his devotion somehow. You can't take alignment based devotions unless you're of that alignment, and I want to know why you can suddenly sprout ape-like muscles and get a better response than "I needed a way to boost my strength as a swift action."
-Each character is limited to 2 character flaws. Contact me if you want to have a different flaw than the ones printed.
-Each character can have only one Trait (from Unearthed Arcana)

Also, if you want to use a race that's not in Pathfinder, let me know; we can bring it up to speed. I'm warning everyone right now, though, I will not touch Spellscales or Whisper Gnomes, I think they're pretty good as is. Also, there are still no Thri-Kreen on Otep.

Campaign Structure
This won't be a formal campaign. Instead, it will be a series of one-shots conducted once a month, maybe twice if I'm bored and there's nothing to do at home. Anyone can play, regardless of if they've played in previous sessions. Players can contact me the night before a session if they want to reserve a slot, otherwise it will be the first 8 to arrive. If 3 or fewer people show up to a session, I'll scuttle it and write a fiction to replace it in the storyline.

The Big Prize
This wasn't part of my initial draft, but I think this is the most amusing way to execute it. The Serpent War has been organized by a single individual. What and who he/she is, as well what side he/she represents, will be kept secret until this individual, who I'm calling The Mastermind, arrives. I will not plan what session the Mastermind appears in; rather, his/her appearance will be determined by a die roll. I'll roll a d20, and if the result is above a certain threshold, the Mastermind will appear that session and challenge the party; however, each previous session adds a cumulative +1 bonus to the roll, so the Mastermind is 5% more likely to appear each session. The Mastermind will be an incredibly difficult, perhaps impossible fight, but defeating him/her will entitle everyone in the party to 10 bonus feats that do not count against the normal limit. In addition, you'll gain his/her inventory, some of which is artifact quality.

Level Adjustment/Racial Hit Die Feats
Races with level adjustments and racial hit dice really get the short end of the stick. I liked Sam's feat tree in the first round of Otep games, but Epic Level 10 has a higher power curve, so I'm adjusting the details a bit.

Superior Training
Requires: ECL 10, 1 or more racial hit dice
While other members of your race usually experience a plateau in learning ability at your stage of life, you press on with extreme effort.
Benefit: You permanently lose 1 racial hit die and gain a class level in its place. Reroll your hit points for that level and recalculate saves, base attack, and skill points.

Unusual Skill
Requires: ECL 10, Level Adjustment +1 or higher
You've hit the wall all members of your experience, but you won't let it stop you.
Benefit: Choose a class level for which you qualify (base or Prestige). You gain skill points as if you'd taken a level of that class, and can spend them as if you had one additional hit die. Use that class' skill list to determind what skills are in-class and cross-class.

Unusual Toughness
Requires: ECL 10, Level Adjustment +1 or higher, Unusual Skill
You're already smarter than most of your race. That's just the beginning.
Benefit: You gain one hit die. Roll the die used by the class you selected for Unusual Skill to determine how many hit points you gain; your CON modifier applies as normal. Your base attack bonus, skill points, and saves do not improve.

Break the Plateau
Requires: ECL 10, Level Adjustment +1 or higher, Unusual Skill, Unusual Toughness
You can throw down with the best of them.
Benefit: You Level Adjustment decreases by 1. You gain the class features of the class level you selected with Unusual Skill, and your base attack bonus and saves increase as provided by the class level.
Special: Each time you select this feat, you may take Unusual Skill, Unusual Toughness, and Break the Plateau one additional time, if you still meet the prerequisites. You must take them in order.