Open Topic Open Brainstorm Post

[emo_snal]

   So the latest topic I have for LJ Idol is "Open Topic." And I think I'm going to use this idea I've had for awhile. But I could use ideas to flesh it out, because, among other things, I've never actually played Dungeons and Dragons ;)

The Idea is Thus: Setting: Sometime in the relatively distant future in the basement of a space station (yes

Comments

[jem0000000]

"Barbarian" and "healer" are two different class makeups, though I suppose they could be multiclassing -- if you start at a higher level than one, doing barbarian for the first level gives you more hit points, and you can switch to your real class for the rest of the levels -- I've seen people do that with their healers. Your general four "established" roles are an arcane mage (this would probably be a technology person in your version; the gist of the role is that they do a lot of damage, but are typically relatively easy to take out -- the wizard in my current game is a one-hit KO), a cleric (divine magic user, healer, etc; probably a good spot for a doctor, field medic, or EMT; the role is typically a mix of healing and buff spells), a tank (someone who can both do damage and take damage; typically high in HP/health, and does a lot of physical damage; any sports-based character would work here), and a skills-bot or rogue type (someone who has a lot of non-combat skills; within the realm of combat, they tend to hit from the side and be fairly mobile -- unlike the tank, who stands there and takes damage so as to keep the monsters off the rest of the party -- a thief is typical, but I should think a businessperson or politician would also fall into this role; this is also the probable most fitting spot for a mechanic, because the skills-bot typically handles disabling traps and such; you could also do a gunman, sniper, or cowboy, since this role works equally well as a ranged fighter).

Monsters-wise, I'd say robots (hit hard, can't be affected by charm spells, but are vulnerable to technology attacks such as computer viruses), identity thieves (if they hit you with an attack, they steal your life over two-three rounds; priority is either killing them before that happens or detaching them from whoever they hit so as to stop the life-drain), glass ceilings (despite the name, nearly impervious to physical damage, but can be overcome by a "change minds" or "passage of time" spell), pollution (drippy monster that does poison damage when struck; there's a chance anyone it bites will mutate within the next twenty-four hours if the medic doesn't use a "decontaminate" spell on its victims), NPC politicians (attacks with a "charm" spell that can make PCs follow its orders), etc, etc. Maybe for the mall, the doors could be a trap -- they're affected by a computer virus, so they trap people between the inner and outer doors, which gives an opportunity for a computer programmer to remove the virus or a mechanic to disarm the mechanism that allows the doors to open and close on their own.

Artifacts are typically very useful but occasionally a little silly; it really depends on the GM. Perhaps there's a working ATM in the mall, and all the ATMs elsewhere have mostly been destroyed? Weight may be a problem -- I've been in plenty of parties where, "How do we carry this?" is a concern. (I'd suggest a "Mom's Bottomless Purse" instead of a "Bag of Holding", but you might think of something better?) Or perhaps an alien has hired them to go and buy a product for its spaceship?

ETA: This is from D&D 3.5, if you want to look at some of the monsters 3.5 had: http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/monsters.htm The bit that says "reading the entries" explains what the stat blocks mean, but you'll probably find the descriptive text more useful, since it'll give a better idea of the flavor.

ETA2: Dragons are a nice cliche. There's one in almost every game.