Friday, January 2, 2009

2e: Tying up loose ends

Important details regarding our conversion to 2e:

Campaign date
For the 2e switch, I'm going to reset the campaign date to 1374 DR (back 27 years). There are only a couple notable impacts for you:
  • The current king of Damara is Gareth Dragonsbane, a member of the famed adventuring group that slew Zhengyi, the witch-king, some twenty years ago.

  • Rorovan Daleamber will be considered the third, not sixth, lord of Windless.
This helps me a lot, as I can now integrate details from prior campaigns I've run around the same time period, and it also gives me a default source for my FR material, instead of trying to pull from multiple editions simultaneously.

Racial level limits
In 2e, humans can advance to any level in any class, while the non-human races have upper level limits they can attain for each available class. This is to balance out the fact that demihuman characters get more racial abilities (like infravision) than humans.

None of your chosen PCs' race/class combinations would dictate a level limit lower than 12. Even we do hit these upper levels someday, I'm only going to enforce a limit if I feel it's needed. I'm generally pretty flexible on this, but it's just something that I want you to know exists in 2e.

Laise's breath weapon
The official rule on Laise's breath weapon will be that it shoots fire in a thirty-foot cone for 1d6/level fire damage (maximum 10d6). Those affected can save vs. dragon breath for half damage. Laise can use this ability only once/day, as doing so takes a great toll on his body, which doesn't recover quickly. While I may need to tone down this ability further if it becomes a problem, for now, I think it adds an interesting and flavorful punch to the character.

Also, note that Laise's appearance is completely human, though he still stands 7 feet tall and weighs 300+ pounds. To others, he basically looks like a barbarian, and he certainly has the superior strength to match.

Wizard spells
We'll be going "by the book" for wizard spell slots and gaining new spells. The official campaign rule on "free" spells upon gaining a new level is:
Upon attaining a new spell level, a wizard character can add one new spell to his or her spellbook. For specialist wizards, this spell must be chosen from the wizard's specialty school. The spell is assumed to have been learned through the trials of the previous level.

This "free" spell does not require a "Chance to Learn Spell %" roll.
The important thing to note here is that the wizard only gets a free spell upon gaining a new spell level, not class level. That said, rest assured that there will be ample opportunities for wizard PCs to learn new spells throughout the campaign, and without the group being forced to deviate from its chosen path. The 2e spell rule may sound harsh, but I really don't think we'll have any issues.

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