Version 1.2 - D&D 3rd Edition Campaign Setting

Index

(A)D&D

Character
Creation

Pinnacle

This page last modified by Jens-Arthur Leirbakk

In principle, there are no absolute limitations placed on the Pinnacle campaign when it comes to valid Prestige Classes, character races, and so forth. With, of course, the following exceptions, clarifications and whatnots.

Of course, the following guidelines are all presented with the following caveat: The player character generated must still be okayed by the GM before the character is eligible for campaign play.

Errata will be applied to the standard rules, classes etc. as they are either discovered, or decided upon. For the time being, one should be aware that the Leadership feat is banned (and Strongholds, Cohorts, Followers and whatnots) and the true striking enhancement that grants True Strike an unlimited number of times per day. Ring of Evasion is also banned - it is considered too easy to get that item which emulates a very useful class ability. Furthermore, the Pinnacle campaign uses a non-standard cosmology - this means that certain spells, spell-like abilities and supernatural effects (especially those that deal with dimensional travel) may be altered with little or no warning, and may even vary from shard to shard.

Character Races and Templates

Any official character race is allowed, and any official template is allowed - in this context 'official' means from either one of the Wizards of the Coast books (DMG, PHB, MM, MM2, Monsters of Faerūn, FRSetting, whatever), from Dungeon, or from Dragon. Sources found on the 'net are not official, unless they come directly from the Wizards' web site.

The ECL rating of a template or race will not reduce starting gold for that character. This is changed from the first version of these guidelines.

Furthermore, there's a special house rule in effect. For races or templates with ECL, the character may elect to advance as normal instead of advancing as an Epic level character when the sum total of ECL + character level is 21 or greater. However, the character may not advance as normal when the character has achieved 20 character levels, and must thereafter advance as an Epic character.

(This particular house rule is because a character that chooses, say, the Paragon template [ECL +12] will never get more than two attacks even if he advances as a fighter, because Epic attack bonus does not give additional attacks. This house rule may change if, during play, it is discovered that it is based on imperfect understanding of other rules.)

Classes and Prestige Classes

Any official class or prestige class is allowed. In addition, classes from various d20 publishers will be considered on a case by case basis.

Oriental classes - that is, classes from OA and related works - requires that the character be of an 'Oriental' race. Exactly what this entails is up to the GM, but in this context it is probably safe to assume that a dwarf (or korobukuru) wu jen is allowed, while a dust mephit shugenja is not.

Furthermore, it is assumed that there is a certain logic to any given character's class progression through prestige classes and so forth. It is optimistic to assume that a dust mephit shugenja - tattooed monk - contemplative of Deneir is a character that will be accepted as a player character by the GM.

The power level of the Pinnacle campaign is currently set to 21^st level. This figure must obviously be adjusted by the ECL of the race if a non-standard race is chosen. The 20% XP penalty for unequal advancement in classes (except favored classes and Prestige classes, as per the standard rules) is waived during character creation, but will be enforced once the character is in campaign play if the character fulfils the criteria for the XP penalty.

Attribute Points and Skill Ranks

The starting character has 84 points to divide among the six standard attributes at 1^st level. The player may assign these points as the player sees fit, from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 18. The character may not have less than 3 in any given attribute after racial modifications, and may not have more than (18+/- racial modification) in any given attribute.

The character earns attribute points at the standard rate as the character progresses through the levels. This does mean that a 20^th level character has earned 5 additional points to be divided among the six base attributes as the player sees fit.

Note, however, that this means that extra care must be taken when tracking skill ranks earned at the various levels, as the Intelligence modifier may change at various levels. Also note that Intelligence increases due to magical items such as Tomes and various items of Intellect does not grant any skill ranks.

However, in the case of Tomes, the character is assumed to have aquired these on the character's current level, and thus will get a benefit from the increased Intelligence modifier once the character is a part of the campaign and levels up.

Starting Gold

A character will start with 760 000 gp to spend on magical and mundane items and other gear. The character can pretty much mix and match slots on magical items (This is a Ring of Protection? How about a Headband of Protection?), as well as extra effects and abilities of various magical items, subject to approval from the GM.

A character may not choose limitations to reduce cost of any given item unless the character is creating the items himself, i.e. is both paying money and experience to create the item.

Magical and Mundane Items

Any mundane item is available, though animal companions, hunting dogs etc. are not considered 'items', but rather 'followers'.

No item that the character possesses may cost more than 25% of that character's starting gold allotment. No named armor (Breastplate of Luck, Celestial Armor, etc.) or weapon may have its properties changed or enhanced before the character is a part of the campaign. Armor and weaponry may be created using the market level system, as specified by the Dungeon Master's Guide. New abilities introduced in source books other than the Dungeon Master's Guide will be allowed on a case by case basis.

Note the following: The infamous true striking bow from the same source book is banned. Any item possessing the same ability as the true striking bow is banned as well. An item with True Strike a certain number of times per day, or an item with charges that grants True Strike may be considered by the GM.

Furthermore, any character that is created for campaign play must also have a creation record of how the cost of that character's items was calculated.

New Spells, Psions, etc.

A wizard character may acquire new spells to add to his standard roster, but does use the following:

New spells are paid for as magical items. This means that a scroll containing the spell must be bought. Furthermore, the wizard must pay 200 gp per spell level for inks and extra pages to his grimoire, as per the standard rules.

When rolling the Spellcraft check to see whether the wizard learns the new spell, the wizard is considered to roll '10' on the die.

These rules will be expanded if needed. Similar rules can be considered to be in effect for characters that acquire new abilities in much the same way as a wizard acquires new spells.

Strongholds, Cohorts, Followers, etc.

The Leadership feat is not available for a player character. If a particular Prestige class requires that feat in order to qualify for that Prestige class, then the player may choose that feat for the character, but the feat is "empty" - i.e., no advantages are granted for possessing that feat. There are no strongholds, cohorts, or followers available for a player character, with the following two exceptions:

If the character possesses a Prestige class that specifically grants a follower or something similar (i.e. Techsmith with a Gondsman companion), then that is allowed as it is a major part of the Prestige class.

If the character is a Paladin (or possesses a Prestige class with a Paladin-like ability to call a mount), and wishes to call a mount, then the player may choose the Leadership feat for the character in order for the character to qualify for draconic mounts, as described in Defenders of the Faith.

This does not mean that a druid's animal followers power (or base class or Prestige class abilities of a similar nature) is affected, though one must be aware of the errata considering the total Hit Dice of a druid's animal followers.

Cosmology

The Pinnacle campaign does not use the standard D&D 3^rd Edition cosmology. This means that the Ethereal, Border Ethereal, Shadow, and Astral Plane are somewhat changed, as well as the spells effecting travel between various planes - plane shift, shadow walk, astral spell, et. al.

Prestige classes concerning planar travel will also have their abilities changed, modified or nullified in a similar manner. As such, player characters with Prestige classes or class abilities concerning planar travel and the like must be presented to the GM for approval well before campaign start.

Roleplaying Considerations

As this campaign takes place at a high power level, certain roleplaying considerations should be done.

First of all, the player character's alignment. At this level, good characters are likely to be paragons of good - likewise, evil characters are likely to be truly despicable. This means that any character with an evil alignment is less likely to be okayed by the GM - merely because any Paladin slaying an evil, fiend-binding sorcerer is just doing what she's probably done several times over earlier - even if the sorcerer in question is another player character.

Second, a certain level of detail in the background of the character is nice, though not strictly required. The GM will feel free to add background details to any particular character's background, if the details that are needed have not already been added. It is not necessary with a blow-by-blow account of how that particular character came to be 20^th level (or the equivalent), though a certain number of points should be clarified:

The character's physical description. This includes prominent items ('Oh yeah, did I mention the glowing greatsword I've got slung on my back?'), armor and/or clothes ('yeah, I'm wearing full plate. Didn't you know?'), as well as distinguishing marks or features ('fangs? Yeah, I've got fangs. I'm sure I mentioned it a couple of sessions ago.')

Important mentors, love interests, students, acquaintances, nemeses, rivals. Though not strictly necessary for play, they may come in handy later, if the GM decides to tie in a few characters from the player character's background. If the GM is to do so, there has to be a background, right?

Important episodes, occasions, ceremonies, whatever. Crunchy bits that can be both exploited and incorporated by the GM later on. Remember - if you don't specify it, the GM will likely make it up as he goes along.

Likes, dislikes, fanatical hatreds, hangups, speech impediments, accents. Though the GM won't strictly enforce it, it makes things easier if there are a few roleplaying hooks for your character. Furthermore, especially if you're capable of accents or speech impediments, it makes 'in character' and 'out of character' speech easier to identify.

Obviously, this story may also include specific qualities that the player character's home plane possesses, such as lower gravity, a different sky or heaven, a different pantheon, or unique geographical or social constructs. If the plane is ruled by a lich king and that lich king's undead army, then that is certainly something which would be nice to have included in a background. If the God-King has outlawed any magic except divine magic in the city-state the character comes from and the character consequently distrusts any arcane magic or psionics, then that is nice to have detailed too.

Psionics Are Different

Psionics will be considered as different, yet compatible with magic. This is a slight variation on the optional rule presented in the Psionic Handbook.

This means that any creature with Spell Resistance will also have Power Resistance of an equal magnitude, no matter whether this comes from a class ability (monk) or innate ability (githzerai, dragons). However, items that specifically grant Spell Resistance, will not grant Power Resistance, and vice versa. Detect Magic will not detect active psionics, Detect Psionics (or similar powers) will not detect magic. However, there will be no difference between enhancement bonuses to hit or to damage, whether psionic or magical in nature - both will defeat Damage Reduction.

Furthermore, psionic abilities that affect magic will be two levels higher than a similar ability that affects psionics - a negate magic power will be a 5^th power. The opposite is true of a magical spell that affects psionics - a dispel psionics spell will be a 5^th level spell. The exception to this will be detection powers - these will only be one level higher than a similar ability or spell that detects psionic powers or magical spells. A detect psionics spell, for instance, is a 2^nd level spell.