This is the OOC thread for the Quest of the Wind role-play. You may post in-character immediately in the prologue, but you need to have a character sheet approved before you can post in the IC thread (the IC thread is not up yet. Introduce your character in the prologue thread).


You may choose a class from either D&D 3.5 or Pathfinder for this role-play. All rules will be assumed to be the same except for a revamping of the magic system, plus a few additions.

Starting level: 9

Ability scores: 36-point buy, but of those at least 12 must be spent on physical scores (Str, Dex, Con), and at least 12 on mental scores (Int, Wis, Cha).

All Content: We will be using 3.5 or Pathfinder at your convenience. Feats will be granted at the Pathfinder rate. You may use any core content, as well as any non-core content that I approve (core content is assumed to be pre-approved). Currently approved content includes:
-Classes: Elemental priest (see adaptation thread), Scout, Duskblade, Spirit Shaman, Favored Soul, Oracle (but see magic system).
-Feats: Skirmish, Improved Skirmish, Agile Athlete, Fit and Healthy (see Staff of the Emerald Enclave thread), also Spell Mastery


Class Changes: Apart from changes to magic, the following affects all classes: any class with fewer than 4 + Int skill points per level (e.g. Cleric, Fighter, Paladin, Sorcerer, Wizard) instead gets 4 + Int skill points per level.

Magic System: We will be using a mana system, which I will describe below in an edit to this post. Highlights include:
--Characters will have a caster level, which is the sum of caster levels from all classes that provide caster levels. Caster levels from multiple classes stack.
--Each class will have a mana pool, the size of which is determined by the character's caster level, class level, and relevant ability score. All classes can have mana pools, but because not all classes provide caster levels, a character must have levels in a magic-using class in order for her ordinarily nonmagical classes to have mana pools.

Feat rule changes: Each character begins with one personality feat which is in addition to all of their normal feats. This personality feat represents some inherent distinguishing capability of the character, not a learned skill. Thus, any of the focus feats are not applicable, but feats that inherently benefit saves, allow ability score substitution, augment hit points, etc. are perfect.


New Actions: A kill shot is a new action. See below.

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The Magic System

Caster level - All characters or creatures have a caster level, which may be zero. Your caster level is determined by the sums of levels of your classes, as follows:
Cleric, Druid, Elemental Priest, Favored Soul, Sorcerer, Spirit Shaman, Wizard - equal to level
Bard, Duskblade - equal to 3/4 of your level
Monk†, Paladin, Ranger - equal to 1/2 of your level
Barbarian, Fighter, Rogue, Scout - equal to 1/4 of your level*
†Monks in Pathfinder do not get mana pools. Their ki pool is already their mana pool.
*Only if you have a level of a class with a higher rate (i.e. a 20th-level fighter has a caster level of 0, whereas a character with 16 levels of fighter and 1 of wizard has a caster level of 5).

Mana pool - All classes have a mana pool for each character. Each mana pool is specific to the class as well as the character. A character's mana pool for any given class* is equal to caster level x (class level + relevant ability modifier). Each class has its own relevant ability modifier, as follows:
Duskblade, Fighter, Rogue, Scout, and Wizard all use Intelligence as their relevant ability score
Barbarian, Cleric, Druid, Elemental Priest, Monk†, Paladin, Ranger, all use Wisdom as their relevant ability score.
Bard, Favored Soul, and Sorcerer all use Charisma as their relevant ability score.
*Bards, Favored Souls, and Sorcerers all get double their mana pools.
†3.5 Monks only

Spells - Each class has its own unique spell list, which embodies the theme of the class. All spell lists go up through 9th-level spells. Spell progression tables for spells prepared/known follow class level, but see notes below for each class as spell progression tables below, and also see the feat Spell Mastery, below. Spells cost mana equal to the square of the spell's level. Spells and spell-lists follow the following conventions:
-Classes with intelligence-based spell casting cast arcane spells, and must prepare spells from a limited number of spells that they know. Learning spells follows the same rules as those for wizards under normal circumstances, and all classes with intelligence-based spells use the wizard spell progression table for prepared spells (based on caster level). If a prepared spell is cast, it is not expended; a caster may cast a spell she has prepared as many times as she likes until she runs out of components or mana. Fighters have the special ability that fighter spells have their arcane spell failure chance reduced by 5% per level of the fighter, to a minimum of 0%. Additionally, Scouts cast all their spells silently, without need of the Silent Spell feat.
-Classes with wisdom-based spell casting cast divine spells, and are considered to "know" all spells of their level, but can still only prepare spells based on their spell-progression table, which is the same as that of the cleric. If the caster has priestly domains, as clerics and elemental priests do, then these domains each have separate mana pools equal in size to 1/4 the mana pool size that the priest would normally have, but otherwise behave in the same way. Monk spells and the spells of some elemental priests are subject to divine spell failure, which works exactly the same as arcane spell failure but afflicts them as divine spellcasters.
-Classes with charisma-based spell casting cast arcane spells with the exception of the Favored Soul, which casts divine spells. These classes have a limited number of spells that they can know at each level, period, which uses the same progression as that of the Sorcerer.

Spell lists - Each class has its own unique spell list. There is not enough room here to list every spell of every class, but players should understand that I use the following guidelines when allowing or not allowing spells:
Barbarian - Barbarians have access to spells that enhance athletic performance, as well as spells that deal with animals in some way, including symbolically (e.g. Eagle's Speandor, since eagles are animals, and represents an appropriate shamanic totem).
Bard - The Bard spell list is essentially unchanged in theme, including healing, misdirection, beguiling, and sound-based magic, except that it now extends to 9th-level.
Cleric - Elemental spells that have little or no general religious significance such as Sound Burst, Sky Swim and the like are removed. It does not matter if a cleric's specific deity is a deity of music, the sky, etc. This is what domains are supposed to be fore (or elemental priests).
Druid - Unchanged
Duskblade - The Duskblade spell list is unchanged, except that it is extended to 9th-level. Duskblade spells include short-range targeted attack spells and touch attack spells - the sort of spells that could be cast together with a melee attack.
Elemental Priest - Elemental priests choose an element from the following list upon gaining their first level of elemental priest. Choices are Fire, Air, Water, Earth, Light, Darkness, Death, and Wood/Flesh. Every six class levels, an elemental priest can add another element, but her maximum spell level in each new element is one lower than all of her previous elements (e.g. at 18th level, an elemental priest would cast 9th-level spells of her first element, 8-th level of her second, 7th-level of her third, and 6th-level of her fourth). Fire includes anything having to do with heat and burning emotions (anger, lust). Air includes gasses, electricity, and illusions. Water includes spells having to do with aquatic creatures of any kind. Earth includes anything having to do with metal, or most spells dealing with objects. Light includes figment-type illusions, judgement-based magic, good-aligned magic, and also includes electricity. Darkness includes most non-illusion deception magic (e.g. mind-affecting enchantments) but does include Invisibility spells, evil-aligned spells, and corrupting spells. Wood/Flesh includes anything having to do with athletic buffs, animals, or plants. Death has anything to do with life energy and, of course, undead. All eight elements have some access to healing spells, usually along the lines of the Druid, but Wood/Flesh and Death have Cleric-like healing powers.
Favored Soul - Favored Souls generally cast cleric spells, but potentially should have some additional judgement-related spells, such as the Druid's Call Lightning.
Fighter - Fighter spells include any arcane combat magic, be it attack spells, combat buffs, or combat shielding.
Monk - Monk spells include all athletic enhancements. In addition, all monks must choose an element when they gain the ability to cast magic; options include Fire, Wind, Water, Metal, and Wood (yes, five - read your Chinese philosophy). Monks generally get the same powers that Elemental Priests of the corresponding element do.
Paladin - The Paladin spell list is essentially unchanged except that it goes up to 9th-level. Paladin spells heal, protect, deliver holy justice, and seek out and identify evil.
Ranger - The Ranger spell list is essentially unchanged except that it goes up to 9th-level. Ranger spells deal with animals, plants, include (very) limited access to healing, and a few alchemical-type spells that take place in nature.
Rogue - Rogue spells enable stealth, beguiling, and targeted attacks and assassinations (but not area attacks).
Scout - Scout spells deal with stealth, observation, mobility, and targeted attacks.
Sorcerer - Unchanged
Spirit Shaman - Unchanged
Wizard - Wizards must choose a focal school. Wizards cannot cast spells of their maximum spell level except from their focal schools.


Feat: Spell Mastery
Benefit: You may add +1 to the class level when using the spell progression table for any of your classes.
Special: If this bonus makes your class level higher than your caster level, then your caster level will be the limiting factor.
Note: You can take this feat multiple times. Each time you take it, you add an additional +1 to class level when using the spell progression table for any of your classes. If this makes your class level higher than your caster level, your caster level remains the limiting factor.

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Death and Dying rules changes

Death limit - your character dies when her hit points reach the negative of her Constitution score, not -10.

Clinical Death - if you die by any effect that does not include the [death] descriptor (including having your hit points run too negative), then you are clinically dead. You are dead, but your soul has not left your body. This means that divine magic, especially healing magic, treats you as if you were still alive (albeit dying), just with negative hit points. You remain clinically dead for a number of rounds equal to your Charisma score, at which point your soul departs and you become truly dead. You continue to lose hit points at a rate of one/round while clinically dead. If you die but your hit points are positive (as by the effects of Phantasmal Killer or a Kill Shot action), then your hit points are reduced to -1. If you receive any magical healing while clinically dead and your hit points are less negative than your Constitution score after the healing takes place, then you are restored to life. This restoration does not count as a resurrection as far as destiny or level loss is concerned; you just never were (quite) dead.

Resurrection and destiny - Your character has a role in destiny called a thread, which represents what your character is supposed to be able to do with her life, or try to do. If your character is particularly important in destiny, then she may have multiple threads, or she may have partial threads that aren't quite real and yet aren't quite nonexistent. When she dies, her one or more of her threads are cut, depending on what she was doing and what her threads are associated with. If all of your character's threads are cut, then she cannot be resurrected by any means. She is dead, forever. This is usually what happens when a character dies of old age. If at least one of your character's threads are intact, then your character can be resurrected by any of the raise/resurrection spells without material cost or loss of hit die or experience level, although other side effects and conditions still apply (need to find a priest able and willing to cast a spell of that level, you can't currently be undead, etc.). If all of your remaining threads are damaged but not severed, then the normal resurrection rules, including costs and side effects, apply.

In general, legendary heroes or people destined to be such have many threads of which all can be severed at the destined time, ordinary people have just one, and semi-heroic or heroic-but-not-legendary people usually have a small number of difficult-to-sever-all-at-once threads. Major NPCs and legendary PCs usually fit into the first category, and most other PCs fit into the third. As an example of how this works, the destiny of Aimienna in the IC thread is to face the challenges of the Wind Temple. If she dies while doing so, then that was her destiny and all her threads are cut. Otherwise, only one of her several threads, the one connected to the mission she is on, is cut if she is killed. The reason why she must eventually go to the Wind Temple is because if she chooses not to, then she would be casting aside her destiny, and now has only her one thread. You should consult with the DM what your character's destiny may be, or else accept that you will fit into the semi-heroic category and use the normal resurrection rules provided that your quest does not fail utterly.

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New Actions

Kill Shot
You attempt to make a lethal attack against a target, using your knowledge of the target's anatomy.

Making a kill shot is a standard action. When you declare a kill shot, you first declare the part of the body you are aiming for. The DM may impose modifiers or declare that it is impossible if you cannot locate or do not have line of sight to the targeted organ (knowledge [nature] generally covers anatomy, but so do specific knowledges, as knowledge [local] does for humanoids). If you fail to locate the target organ, you still take the kill shot action, but your attack is considered a regular attack, with no chance of an instant kill.

If you make a kill shot against a target during a surprise round, or if the target does not know that you are there, then you immediately make your attack roll normally. Otherwise, the target gets a Reflex save. If the target is flat-footed but not surprised (i.e. the target knows about you and that you are a threat but hasn't acted yet), then the DC is 10 + your base attack bonus. If the target is not flat-footed, then the DC is 5 + your base attack bonus. If the target makes the save, then you do not get to attack; you spend your action drawing a bead on the target, but not tracking well enough to confidently fire.

If the target fails its save, or does not get a save because it is surprised, then you make an attack roll, but this roll is penalized due to the smaller size of the organ you are targeting and, potentially for natural armor or other factors as well (a vaguely humanoid creature's rib cage or skull offers a +2 natural armor bonus to AC in addition to any other armor, natural or otherwise, they may have). If you hit, you not only automatically threaten critical, but then the target must make a Fortitude save against a DC of 10 + the damage dealt or die. If you would have normally threatened critical, you automatically confirm. If you hit the target, but not by the margin required to make a kill shot, then the DM may determine that you made a normal hit (e.g. you aimed for the heart and failed to penetrate the breastbone, but you did hit the chest), causing you to roll damage normally with no death chance. Death by kill shot is clinical death.

[This message has been edited by Beren V (edited 02-15-2012 @ 08:37 PM).]