Bee Shape

Time and System

GMT+1, 8PM, Thursdays.

2nd ed AD&D with houserules.

Current XP Count: 0

Chargen

Characters start at level 1.

76 stat points, stats must be between 3 and 19 prior to racial modifiers(Constitution is excepted from this limit). NWP's and weapon proficiencies are in use.

Stats are bought at a 1:1 ratio, except the jump from 15 to 16, which costs 2 points, 16 to 17, which costs 3 points, 17 to 18 which costs 4 points, and every "category"(i.e. every step at which the modifiers are increased) of percentile strength which cost 2 points each. The step from 18 to 19(or 18/00 to 19) costs 4 points.

Arcane casters may choose up to 4 1st-level spells at chargen, +1 per point of Intelligence above 10.

Warriors(Fighters, Rangers, Paladins) and Clerics start with 150 gold for shopping.
Rogues(including Bards) start with 100 gold for shopping.
Mages(including Specialists) start with 50 gold for shopping.

The Setting

Fifty years ago, the Dark Lord, or possibly Lady, who may or may not have been a sorcerer or demigod, was defeated by the Chosen Ones in battle, routing their dark legions and restoring light to the land, allowing honest adventurers to once again engage in morally suspect enterprises to enrich themselves rather than having to fight for light and justice. Many mysteries relating to the Ambiguously Gendered Dark Noble, however, were never uncovered before their untimely death in battle, prompting hundreds of dangerous and occasionally suicidal treasure hunts, as well as well-paid writing careers for sages musing on these unanswered questions.

Now the misfit adventurers headlining this story have come into possession of lost letters from the AGDN, hinting at where their dark fortress(and thus all of its loot, traps and guardians) was located. It's not a precise location, however, so there are many hexes of arbitrary size to investigate in search of it, and potentially other treasure hunters to beat up on the way there if you don't like the look of them.

The Houserules

Arcane casters gain bonus spells from Intelligence like Divine casters do from Wisdom

Halflings have been replaced by Hamlings, stats are the same, but they're now cuter

All elves are jazzy and start with a free musical instrument.

Arcane magic is catalyzed by the appendix

The spell "Sleep" only works on unaware and un-agitated targets(i.e. ones that aren't currently trying to brain you with a rock or on the lookout for intruders)

Clerics must worship a deity or thematically interesting concept and thus have limited access to magical spheres

Bonus languages from Intelligence instead become bonus Non-Weapon Proficiency slots.

Racial level limits are removed.

All races can be all classes.

Humans may choose to either: increase their starting stat pool by +1 OR start with 1 extra Weapon Proficiency point and 2 extra Non-Weapon Proficiency points OR gain +1 HP at every level.

Hit dice are maximized for all levels.

Player's Option spells are included, Player's Option Combat & Tactics increased weapon specialization/expertise will be used.

Any weapon can be refluffed as any other as long as it's a reasonably similar one(i.e. if you buy a Two-Handed Sword you can refluff it as being a giant war maul or a huge battle axe instead if that fits your character's aesthetics better).

Natural Healing

Characters heal 1 HP per rest period, 3 HP for an entire day of rest.

A successful Healing NWP check(per character to be healed) changes these to 1d4 HP and 3d4 HP respectively. If the healer also knowns Herbalism and has access to herbs the healing increases to 1d6 HP and 3d6 HP.

Natural healing of any kind is only possible if the party has access to food(usually rations) and water.

Druids

In addition to their basic spheres, Druids also get Major access to the Travellers and Summoning sphere.

Druids have access to shapeshifting into five normal animals of 1HD or less from level 1.

At each subsequent level, they gain access to one animal shape(intelligence 4 or lower, no magic abilities, subject to DM approval) of the same hit dice as the level they've reached(for instance, at 3rd level a Druid could gain access to Black Bear shape, at 5th level they might gain access to Buffalo shape, etc.). Special abilities might cause a creature to "rate" higher than simply its base hit dice(for instance, a wyvern, having a save-or-die poison sting, would rate as 9 Hit Dice instead of its basic 7).

For every five levels the druid has, their animal forms' attacks count as being +1 in terms of being able to hit creatures immune to normal attacks(+1 at 5th level, +2 at 10th, +3 at 15th, etc.).

While shapeshifted, as long as they're able to satisfy verbal and somatic components of spells(i.e., appendages free, mouth not full of orc, etc.), they can cast spells as normal.

Any items the druid is normally able to carry without being encumbered are also transformed while shapeshifted, and are returned to the druid on returning to their natural shape.

Crossbows

Except as noted, crossbows have the same stats as in the PHB.

All Crossbows have a +2 to hit.

Hand Crossbows do 1d6+2/1d4+2 damage, and gain backstab bonuses against unsuspecting opponents if used by Rogues. Cost: 100 GP.
Light Crossbows do 1d8+2/1d6+2 damage.
Heavy Crossbows do 1d10+4/1d8+4 damage.

Selling and Buying

Buying is assumed to default to 100% cost, selling is assumed to default to 50% cost, for items with listed sale prices.

With a successful Charisma check, a character can lower buying cost by 5% or increase selling cost by 5%.

For every additional attempted Charisma check, treat the character's Charisma as 2 points lower.

Failing a Charisma checks resets the price to full.

Failing two Charisma checks resets the price to 150% cost for buying or 25% cost for selling.

Failing three Charisma checks gets you treated like a huckster and the merchants will no longer trade with you for the time being.

Haggling is not an option during chargen, and spending three days underground will reset your default prices.

It's possible to haggle bulk purchases rather than per-item.

Henchmen

For any henchmen that take payment "per day," this ticks over every time the party rests or descends a dungeon level(unless a shortcut explicitly permits skipping multiple levels at once).

Each henchman also consumes a portion of rations at the same interval.

Baggage Carrier, Professional

Payment: 1gp per day

Contractually excused from combat or hazardous conditions thanks to a strong labour union. Require a successful Charisma check at -4 to do anything other than carrying things(eg. helping push open a stuck door, helping keep up a sagging ceiling about to collapse and kill everyone, traipsing first down a corridor that might be trapped, handing someone a potion or fresh ammunition during a fight, etc.). Conditions may worsen the check(i.e. if the body of the last baggage carrier, henchman or NPC is still smoldering in the middle of the corridor) or cause them to demand an extra fee for it.

Professional baggage carriers can carry 40lb. of equipment a piece.

Baggage Carrier, Desperate

Payment: Only rations

Beggars, orphans, war veterans or otherwise desperate humans and demihumans. Malnourishment, injuries or other ailments prevent them from carrying as much as professional baggage carriers, but desperation and a lack of union membership means that they are much easier to convince to do the things that unionized labour will not. They will do non-carrying tasks if their employer succeeds at a normal Charisma check. Conditions may worsen the check(i.e. if the body of the last baggage carrier, henchman or NPC is still smoldering in the middle of the corridor) or cause them to demand an extra fee for it.

Desperate baggage carriers can carry 20lb. of equipment a piece.

Expert

Payment: 5gp per day, 10gp per NWP check

Experts are competent civilians, trained in one specific NWP(chosen when they're hired), which they have a target number of 10 in. They can make any number of checks per day, but will take payment for how much work they're required to do. Like baggage carriers, they're protected by strong unions and refuse to do anything outside of their contractually obligated duties. Unlike tasks you do yourself, however, you won't necessarily know if your expert succeeded or not until you rely on his knowledge/talents to not get you killed.

Expert, Highly Trained

Payment: 10gp per day, 50gp per NWP check

Experts are competent civilians, well-trained in one specific NWP(chosen when they're hired), which they have a target number of 15 in. They can make any number of checks per day, but will take payment for how much work they're required to do. Like baggage carriers, they're protected by strong unions and refuse to do anything outside of their contractually obligated duties. Unlike tasks you do yourself, however, you won't necessarily know if your expert succeeded or not until you rely on his knowledge/talents to not get you killed.

The PC's

Hankules, "Human" Fighter
Aunotrag, "Minotaur" Fighter/Thief
Green, Half-Elf Druid
Itati Zere, Elven Cleric

Named NPC's Worth Remembering

The Steward(Cuthfre)

The last remaining member of the Morkhaven Adventurers' Guild, he's been keeping the lights on by himself for the last few years and is extremely excited to see new adventurers arrive in town. He's always eager to tell a good story or relate an amazing tale, and is deeply devoted to the Adventurers' Guild as an institution. Everything about him is grey and slightly battered, from his drooping moustaches to his armor.

Leon Hayek

The proprietor of Leon's Bazaar of Excellence is a skinny, blond man who dresses primarily in fur coats no matter the weather. He speaks with an unfamiliar accent which is clearly not local to the region, and is known to be brusque with people who waste his time without being paying customers or subcontractors. His stand-by threat of turning people into toads or inanimate objects if they bother him clearly marks him as a wizard of the old school, and he seems somewhat unfamiliar with interactions that don't involve money changing hands.

Moss

Definitely not a construct, is absolutely ensouled and can be trusted with difficult tasks.

Fortuna

Higher-vibrational being recently liberated from her stony prison.

Travel Rules

Misc. Useful Links

XP Tracker

Current Party XP: 125000XP
Bonuses: +2NWP, +1 WP

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License