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Old Apr 29th, 2012, 05:49 PM
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Traits of the Archipelago [World of Manumit 3.5]

Traits of the Archipelago
A World of Manumit Campaign Supplement

PCs will choose one campaign trait to supplement their character.


Former Slaver
Before the war on the continent, the slave trade was strong. But when the ports shut down, you were left out of work. Still, you're handier with a whip than most.

Benefit: You gain exotic weapon proficiency: whip.


[Elf] Survivor of Too Many Wars
You were in Karash during the First Tower War; watched your comrades depart for the Desert of Arbat. Yet you persisted. Then, you survived the Second Tower War; watched civilization crumble again. Then, you survived the invasion from Rowlandson. After this third war, you left the Continent, and made your way to the Archipelago. You have stared death in the face more times than you can count and have become resistant to the trials of war.

Benefit: You are immune to the "Shaken" Condition, and have a +2 to Fear-related Will Saves.


[Drow Male] Rebel Drow Male
You were pushed too many times by the women of your race; now you have turned against them.

Benefit: You consider the Drow Race a natural enemy and gain a +1 to attack and damage rolls against them.


Islandbound
During a rather hard to explain series of events, you were left alone on a small island in the archipelago. You survived, and became excellent at spear-fishing.

Benefit: You gain +2 to attack and damage rolls when throwing javelins from above water (including boats) into water. You become proficient with javelins.


Familiar with Discardan
You have dealt with Discardan at length and have become familiar with their movements.

Benefit: Gain +3 on checks to overcome concealment when fighting Discardan.


Ain't Nothing Like Graveyard Isle
You spent more than a few years on Graveyard Isle. Sure, most of the stiffs there are supposed to stay dead. . . but more than their fair share don't. You didn't exactly get used to them. . . well, actually, yeah, you did.

Benefit: You gain a +4 to all will-saves against undead supernatural abilities.


Parkour
You grew up in Cliffside, and got pretty handy with mixing jumping with climbing.

Benefit: You gain a +2 to jump, and can take 10 when jumping between buildings, or up along ridges in buildings. Jump is always a class skill for you.


I once went hang-gliding with the gnomes!
You. . . once went hang-gliding with the gnomes. It left a serious impact.

Benefit: You gain +2 to fly and Fly is always a class skill for you.


I Came Up From Paradise City
You grew up in Paradise City, before the big one came and drowned the city. You've spent half your life in one boat or another.

Benefit: You gain +2 to sailing and sailing is always a class skill for you.


Unity Through Strength
You know what really brings people together.

Benefit: You gain +2 on intimidate checks and intimidate is always a class skill for you.


A Pirate's Life For Me!
A pirate is used to getting stabbed in the back by his best friends.

Benefit: You only take half damage from backstab abilities.


Atheist
You were on the Continent when Rowlandson attacked. You have first-hand experience of the hypocrisies of religion. You could stare a god in the face and insist that you don't believe in it.

Benefit: +2 to divine-spell related will saves.


[Half-Orc] Dragon-Dodger
Your parents fled the dragons of Preigity on the continent. They have talked with you at length about what to expect from their ferocious breath attacks.

Benefit: You are considered to have Evasion against dragon breath attacks. You gain a +2 to reflex saves to avoid dragon breath attacks.


Antivenom Expert
You've cared for a group that fought against the Yuan-Ti and got deft at dealing with their poisons.

Benefit: You gain +2 to Craft: Alchemy checks for the purposes of creating anti-venom and gain a +2 to fortitude saves against Yuan-Ti poisons.


[Bonded/Warforged]Flotation Device Attached
Having a flotation device is quite handy when half your body is metal.

Benefit: You can float in the water; deactivating the device allows you to sink and can be performed as a move action. It can be re-activated as a full-round action.

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Last edited by Krazy; May 1st, 2012 at 05:57 AM.
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Old Apr 29th, 2012, 06:29 PM
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The main thing here. . .

The point of these is just to help people settle their characters into the game world. To that end, a big point here is to not discourage people from choosing a trait because other traits seem clearly superior. So if a trait sounds interesting, but seems weak, please let me know.
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Old Apr 30th, 2012, 11:17 AM
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I really like this idea. This is a great way to help define characters. Good idea. A few things to keep in mind:

Skill-related bonuses: Most of your players will probably be familiar with the skill bonus set-ups in the 3.5 material. Most of the regional feats either give two skills a +2 or they give one skill a +3. A racial feat that offers only 1 skill at a +2 may not be enough to win people over. Maybe also throw in a bonus to an obscure knowledge skill, possibly promoting some more unique characters. Knowledge (Seafaring, Ocean Life, Air Travel, ect.)

Familiar with Discardan and Aint nothing like Graveyard Isle both have bonuses of +4. While I think this is beneficial for the first it might end up being a bit strong for the second. Think about how often players will encounter enemies of the sub-type Discardan versus the sub-type Undead and use that as a balance. Undead are a fairly typical occurence, unless it is something that won't be too prevalent in the game at which point the ability is mute anyways.

Off the list, I would pick either Aint nothing like Graveyard Isle or A Pirate's Life for Me, based on their abilities.
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Old Apr 30th, 2012, 02:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ifdesign View Post
Skill-related bonuses: Most of your players will probably be familiar with the skill bonus set-ups in the 3.5 material. Most of the regional feats either give two skills a +2 or they give one skill a +3. A racial feat that offers only 1 skill at a +2 may not be enough to win people over. Maybe also throw in a bonus to an obscure knowledge skill, possibly promoting some more unique characters. Knowledge (Seafaring, Ocean Life, Air Travel, ect.)
True, but most of those only give a brief boost to their skills . . . here, they get a pump to the skill and it always becomes a class skill. In the long term this second effect is much stronger than an extra +2 in an unrelated skill that does not in term transform the skill into a permanent class skill.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ifdesign View Post
Familiar with Discardan and Aint nothing like Graveyard Isle both have bonuses of +4. While I think this is beneficial for the first it might end up being a bit strong for the second. Think about how often players will encounter enemies of the sub-type Discardan versus the sub-type Undead and use that as a balance. Undead are a fairly typical occurence, unless it is something that won't be too prevalent in the game at which point the ability is mute anyways.
True. . . I will slightly nerf the benefit for the Discardan. Bear in mind though that it's only to penetrate concealment with the Discardan; they still have to get through the regular AC as well.

Thank you for your comments!
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Last edited by Krazy; Apr 30th, 2012 at 02:03 PM.
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Old Apr 30th, 2012, 02:47 PM
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You bet. Take them with a grain of salt. This looks like it will be a lot of fun.
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Old May 2nd, 2012, 09:55 AM
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Would you want to maybe make a trait helping water use? Maybe a bonus to swimming, increased speed or movement? I just think there should be more concerning the water if it is such a huge thing.
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Old May 2nd, 2012, 10:30 AM
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Some of these are really good. I particularly like survivor of too many wars and dragon-dodger. Those are excellent traits.

I have to ask about a pirate's life for me - what qualifies as backstab damage? Sneak attacks? All precision damage? Either way, halving either of those is a huge benefit, and it might be better if you just game them a flat 'must be level 4 to sneak attack' sort of deal, not unlike uncanny dodge.
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Old May 2nd, 2012, 02:03 PM
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I would have to agree. Maybe a pirate's life for me negates or lowers the sneak attack roll by 2 Die... i.e. a sneak attack of 4d6 becomes on 2d6, 8d6 becomes only 6d6.

Just another thought.
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Old May 2nd, 2012, 05:26 PM
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First, since the flavor is so much about being stabbed in the back, I was going to restrict it to Sneak Attack damage, so Skirmish and other Precision-based attacks would still penetrate regardless.

Never been a huge fan of Uncanny Dodge. Maybe: 3 Damage Reduction to Sneak Attack damage. This is significantly worse than the previous version, and would be pretty negligible at later levels, but would still be a potential life-saver at level 1-2. And it's still arguably much better than some of the other trait options. Thoughts?

Darkshire, I will add some more aquatic based traits soon. If anyone has suggestions for them let me know!
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Old May 3rd, 2012, 01:02 AM
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[Non-Aquatic]Call Me. . . Mr. Treasure Hunter
At some point, you spent months or even years working as the diver for a group of wreckage excavators. You trained your lung capacity to go to the very limits.

Benefit: You double the number of turns you can hold your breath before drowning.

[Aquatic]Fastest Fins In The West
You trained as a youth for races against others of your kind, and often took first place. That, or you've just gotten used to running away from sharks. Still, when the ladies are choosing their mates--isn't running away from sharks pretty darn important?

Benefit: While using the run action while swimming, you may move an additional 5 feet.

[Non-Aquatic]Former Slave
Ah yes, someone has to work the oars in the galley. You wish, actually, you'd have been the one in the galley. You weren't a galley slave--you were a mud slave. The Lizardfolk of Thickney Isle used you to drag their barges through the marshes. You'd have died had you not, in turn, found out that your heart is exceptionally resilient.

Benefit: The DC for swimming an hour and avoiding sublethal damage from fatigue is reduced to 10.

More of these to come given time.
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Old May 3rd, 2012, 03:40 PM
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Suggestions:

A trait for those who are directly opposed to the the Kingdom of Rowlandson?

Or, if applicable, those who are directly in favor of the KoR?

Since they are such a defining factor, maybe a few traits dealing directly with them outside of Religious reasons?

Again, only suggestions .
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Old May 3rd, 2012, 04:44 PM
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Refugee
The Kingdom of Rowlandson destroyed your family home, your home town, everything you know. You escaped only by slinking away, hiding out in the dead of night. You spent days or even weeks creeping through the countryside, and have grown familiar with what it takes to avoid being seen.

Benefit: You gain a +2 to Stealth checks and Stealth is always a class skill for you.

Missionary Recruit
When the missionaries from Rowlandson came decades ago, before the war, you embraced their open talk of egalitarianism, and were terrified of their threats of damnation. You understood that, in Rowlandson, they had a human-centric worldview, but naturally adopted the core ideas to the islands in a way that made sense to you. You are skilled at reshaping ideas, you can express the terrors that horrify you, but also find it hard to control your fear.

Penalty: You gain a -2 to Will Saves against Fear effects and a -2 to Sense Motive.
Benefit: You gain a +2 to Diplomacy, Diplomacy is always a class skill for you, and you gain a +2 to Intimidate, and Intimidate is always a class skill for you.
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Old May 3rd, 2012, 08:52 PM
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Slave with a Vendetta
You grew up enslaved in some of the harshest parts of the world. For months, whenever you had a spare moment, you imagined how best to wield anything nearby, anything at all, as a weapon against your captors.

Benefit: You gain a +1 trait bonus on attacks made with improvised weapons. If you do not possess Throw Anything or Improvised Weapon Proficiency feats, you still take penalties on these attack rolls as normal.
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Old May 1st, 2013, 04:44 PM
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I'm looking to apply to the game as a Druid and was wondering if we could do one up for a druid, something along the lines of this:

Companion Reliance
More than once while living off the islands, you would have found yourself dead, if not for your animal companion's loyalty.

Benefit: You gain the Natural Bond feat.

Or, if that's too strong,

Benefit: Add +1 to your effective druid level for the purpose of determining the bonus Hit Dice, extra tricks, special abilities, and other bonuses that your animal companion receives.
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Old May 2nd, 2013, 11:36 AM
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Ashes, if you're interested in applying to a game, you should contact the GM directly, or check the DMs seeking players thread.

That said, however, I'd have to say that at least the first, and possibly the second versions of that trait are too powerful - for a trait.

Numerically speaking, a trait is exactly half as good as a feat. Feats might give a flat +4 bonus to a skill. An equivalent trait would give a +2 bonus. Therefore, a trait that grants a feat is always too strong.

The second proposed trait is much better, but it's still on the borderline - it makes you effectively one level higher for a primary class ability for a druid, and many other classes. I'd say most likely that limiting the trait to one of those things - HD, tricks or other bonuses would be about the right power.
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