Sample File This Campaign Setting Into a Published Campaign Setting Project

Table of Contents Æthercoil Magazine Issue 1 – July 16

Introduction 1 What is Æthercoil? 2 My Character Creation Checklist 8 Player Options in Æthercoil 10 Anthro Races Pt. 1 13 Generalist Wizard 20 Zombies, Fast and Scalable 21 How I design the campaigns, Part 1 24

No God, nor Devil, just 128 Dragons! 29

Lost Mine of Calais Introduction 31

Google + Forum Visit the Æthercoil Google+ Community for videos, side articles, playtesting gameplay, and other conversation, and your input will help me progress Sample file this campaign setting into a published Campaign Setting project https://goo.gl/v8mGmf

Page 0 Æthercoil Magazine Issue 1 – July 16 Introduction Allow me to open up with thanking everyone who actually paid money for Before I go on… my three previous Pay What You Want items I have in DriveThruRPG. There are some things I need to let you There’s no better encouragement for me than an occasional cup of coffee, know about some conventions I keep and some of you thought what I wrote was worth a couple of them. I can while I’m writing. It’s in part because of never appreciate that enough. my own personal quirks and in part because of me being autistic. There’s a lot of other material I can share, but a lot of them are too small Fortunately, I keep adequate footnotes for a single document: Hence this somewhat regular periodical. How to keep you on the same page. often I’ll make issues depends on how much stuff I can put in 30- something pages. Æthercoil Magazine will include all the little items like All of the material in this magazine is player races and archetypes, various spells and feats, and other items that compatible with Dungeons & Dragons need a catch-all document to go in. Fifth Edition. However, the best results require the Player’s Handbook™, I’ll also include various essays on the Æthercoil campaign setting, Monster Manual™ and the Dungeon worldbuilding articles, techniques I use to aid my DMing, some short Master’s Guide™. There are some parts adventures, and even some short fiction set in the world. I’ll also be in the publications that I use which isn’t including my own artwork here (returning to my first love, illustration), present in the SRD or the Basic Rules. so there might also be some comic pages in the future. I’ll refer to the First Edition of the My ultimate goal in this is to create a publication for my campaign setting documents for page references. for the world, both a guide and a starting campaign. This magazine is the Attributes are referenced in two ways: all-important first step in this journey. I hope you’ll join me along the Their Scores by their full name way. (Charisma), and their Modifiers by their David Foxfire abbreviation (CHA). Sometimes I use terms taken from 4th Edition to ream things in 5th Edition. ‘Standard’ means the same as the unlabeled ‘Action.’ Ditto with ‘Minor’ for ‘Bonus’ and ‘Long Rest’ for ‘Extended Rest’. If I mention ‘Rest’ Sample file without any qualifiers, it means any rest longer than ‘Short Rest’ One last thing: While I know that there are varying genders out there, I default with binary male pronouns as a writer. I am also an adult who uses adult language and, as a Cis White Male with Autism, not only will I offend people, I am unable to give a fuck about it. You have been warned on all counts.

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What is Æthercoil?

some call “The Regressive Left” in the backstory. Before we get started… If you don’t know what that means, don’t worry; if I need to let you know how I create first: you value freedom of speech, think about what someone made over who that person is, and Do you know of a kid who takes his collection of would laugh at someone who says that OSR games Lego Block sets, poach every set down to its causes brain cancer, we can get along. However, if blocks, sorts them out, and then build something what I just said triggered you, what are you doing bigger from all the pieces? That’s what I’ll be in the D&D 5E Homebrew section of DriveThru- doing, only here it’s every bit and piece from RPG, for Christ’s sake? Go to the Forge section Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition, rulebooks, where you belong2! modules, and homeruled content alike. If you’ve seen my other DriveThruRPG documents, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Some will scoff at …we come in? this practice, but if a particular wheel is working I started DMing in the middle of Murder in Baldur’s just fine, why should you reinvent it? Gate, picking up the controls that the previous DM left behind. Before I even set my butt down on the This is also done for economics: I’ll be reusing a chair, though, I knew that I had to deviate from the lot of the published campaigns, especially maps, publication, because I know that the players are random events, and generic content. (“The party following along with the copies of the module they approaches a roadhouse by the side of the road. bought themselves. Use the map on Page 41 of Hoard of the Dragon Queen. A listing of the rooms by number follows.”) I proved quite capable of throwing people off If you have this map downloaded and printed out, when, at the end, I had not one with two Chosen of you can use it for your Æthercoil setting. Even Bhaal fighting each other over a crumbling High Wizards has to admit that, at $50 US a pop, a Hall. Frugal DM (or Worldbuilder) will reuse all of The God of Murder has not spoken to me since. these books, and get as much value out of it as humanly possible and then some. Don’t get me started on what I did to Aruil in Legacy of the Crystal Shard. I doubt R.L. Salvatore That’s the foundation of this campaign setting, will ever forgive me for what I did at Lac with the unique parts built on top. Yes, you’reSample file Dinneshere. Oh, the jokes and japes I played in the going to see sausage made, in all its lovely glory. Dessarin Valley, and the Underdark has At this stage, only a small amount of this setting is experienced my naughty caprice. Lolth called me set in stone. Things will be added, replaced, one night and told me straight out: “I’m still discarded, and some places will have something watching you, motherfucker!” put in as filler, with a proverbial Post-it Note on it I don’t know why Strahd likes me so much, saying “Put something here, Idiot!” however. I eat way too much spicy food for him to I’ll listen to any and all feedback you have, snack on me. especially if it’s something I can use. Feel free to The jury’s still out on the giants; for all I know contact me at [email protected], or they’re going, “Gonterman3? Pshaw! Just another go Æthercoil’s Google Plus Community spurgy4 gamer for all I care. I wouldn’t feel (https://goo.gl/v8mGmf 1) and we can haggle anything if I found him squished under my foot!” over ideas. I look forward to hearing from you. Oh, one last thing. There may be some political content in here. There’s a small part about what

1 This is the only Social Media site I will use. I don’t do Twitter, 3 My legal name is David Gonterman. It won’t take you long to don’t talk to me about Tumblr, and I only use Facebook for realize the reason why I use a nom de plume online. That Giant Game Saves. It’s Google Plus, pal, or use E-mail. tried to pronounce it five times before he got it right. 2 You thought I was kidding about that warning? 4 Yes, I am on the Autism Spectrum. Yes, I know ‘spergy’ is derogative. Please look at the context before going off like Ben Solo on me. Thank you and God Bless.

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Face facts, dear reader, I’m no Chris Perkins. No Series, in case you’re wondering.) where western lesser man than Elminister told me that. To my culture has not just fallen, but got eradicated from face.5 memory. This created a dark age up to just over 200 years prior. The cause of which is a Needless to say, I know my style of Dungeon combination of several ‘Shit Hitting the Fan’ Mastering is too wild for Adventurer’s League scenarios, including a war in the Middle East legal play. which went nuclear, social-economic collapse, civil It isn’t just in the blatant disregard of what strife, ethnic, cultural, and religious warfare, and Wizards of the Coast expects out of me—wait til Social Justice Warriors finally taking it to the you see my revision of Curse of Strahd, which I’ll streets. Those who ended up on top when the put in the DM’s Guild, if Tracy and Laura Hickman smoke cleared set up a totalitarian regime that don’t come to my house with white coats, butterfly combining several Dystopic novels: George nets, and needles of happy juice, I have failed Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Louis Lowry, Margaret them— but also that I turned the Forgotten Atwood, Ray Bradbury, Suzanne Collins, you name Realms into an Old School Renaissance style world the author, he or she inspired a part of this with a Steampunk twist. In my Forgotten Realms, dystopia. Of course, they didn’t fare so well the initial real-world advent of invention is themselves when rifts to this world’s version of included, and the Ben Franklins, Nicolas Teslas, the Feywild and Shadowfell opened up, and they Tomas Edisons, and Graham Bells intermingle began facing dragons, giants, fey, wizards, with Iconic fantasy settings and tropes. zombies, vampires, and every other threat an OSR6 world can throw at them. They fell as well as I have a good excuse for this too: The Spellplague. the original civilization. What do you think would During the Spellplague, magic proved unreliable happen if Orwell’s IngSoc government would fare as the Weave got disrupted during this time. In against a dragon? Right. If Orwell had a dragon, some areas, magical powers were just negated. To 1984 would’ve been a different book. I have 128 circumvent this obstacle, some wizards moved to of them and they all popped up at once. artifice to regain the abilities magic longer When the smoke cleared for the second time, provide. They became inventors world’s major cities are now in ruins, the middle By the Sundering, The Weave of Magic is restored, east is now an ocean, humanity has regressed to but the drive to invent and innovate remained in the Middle Ages and has now combined with those known as Artificers. For better or worse, the elves, dwarves, halflings, animal-based races, and Forgotten Realms will have many advancements many other sentient species compressed into in technological circles, whatever or not theySample like traditionalfile “Points of Light” against a wilderness it or not. of monsters, dragons, evil forces, archwizards, necromancers, roving would-be tyrants, the Eventually, I decided to convert this setting into occasional visit by Cthulhu, and many other something that I can publish and not get sued by dangers. Wizards of the Coast. With the opening of Fifth Edition’s SRD, everyone now has a way to create Humanity would’ve regressed even further if it their own worlds and do it legally. weren’t for the many fey who rescued the humans from the tyrannical rulers they deposed, very It was easy to take all the uniqueness I have from easily to be added. These Eladrin saw these Foxfire Forgotten Realms and port it into an SRD- humans as a broken people, in terminal ennui, legal world. All I needed to do is create a unique lacing in any desire to move on, recover, or thrive; origin for this world. It was during recent events they were similar to what the Allies saw in people in the news sites, especially with social media and from just-liberated concentration camps. They Breibart.com, I found an excellent origin. The initial Æthercoil concept I came up with a world set in the future (300 years after the instant that the Cubs win the World

5 If you think I’m being a bit weird with that passage, it was 6 For the record, OSR means ‘Old School Renaissance,’ or what written as a joke. You’re supposed to laugh. Some people a typical D&D realm would look like. these days need to know when to do so.

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lacked ‘the light of the eyes,’ as the Eladrin say, referring to any resemblance of Hope. However, the children of these humans had didn’t Discuss Æthercoil in have this inner light beaten out of them like their Google Plus parents. The Eladrin sensed great potential in these children, and so took these children in to I have created a Google Plus community mentor and breed this grit back into the human for those who want to comment on race. By 300 WR (for Wrigley Reckoning), what’s in this magazine, haggle world- humanity has regained literacy, education, and building ideas, or talk about what goes some wisdom, however, most of them have no on in my sick twisted head of mine memory of what happened during this Lost Age. The Æthercoil community is reached at However, modern society and western culture are this URL: https://goo.gl/v8mGmf not irrecoverably lost. The artifacts, inventions, and records of the lost Modern Era survived the fall of their society and some remnant of that culture is still being used. Of course, they are archaic and primitive in comparison, but movable print, electricity, steam power, and some sciences still exist. Eventually the new group of humanity, fey, dwarves, halflings, and others discovered the existence of these lost archives of knowledge— known as Western Culture Archives here—from the lost age. From libraries to devices, to important documents, and other things that people from the past hid away to keep them from being destroyed. They were located in forgotten keeps, deep in caves, locked up in towers and ruins, guarded by dragons and wizards, and still hunted by those who still have a misplaced disdain for all things ‘that should remain in the ash heap of history.’ Most of these places wereSample set file up by those who lost their lives protecting this culture. People who wish that someone from this time find them and use them to better their world, or at the least learn from the mistakes that caused their fall. In Æthercoil, the adventuring party is charged by finding these lost relics—some of them the players themselves will find all too familiar—and bring them to their world.

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this time, the internet and any global media 200 WR: By this time, humanity has no Timeline of the Æthercoil no longer exists; the world had gone dark.) knowledge of what happened up to 25 WR; due to the purge of civilization, their whole world Fall 1 WR to 25 WR: Driven by Social history became a Dark Age. Their Justice-style politics, the governments start Note: Save for Point Zero, this is not an civilization has regressed to the Early destroying all remnants of the former exact timeline, but a generalization Middle Ages. Feudalism is rampant, and in civilization and the ‘Western Culture’ that it providing a quick history over the years. some parts society resembles something originated from. Books were burned, out of the Game of Thrones series. WR: Wrigley Reckoning museums were razed, statues were toppled and technology was outlawed. People who 205-225 WR: The Eladrin’s efforts to breed Point Zero: October 0 WR: All the records as much as mentioned anything up to the hope back into the Human Race starts can say is “The fall of humanity started time these governments grew in power taking root. The current generation of when the Chicago Cubs won the World were killed outright. All children were human children began reading again, and Series. It happened at the exact moment of raised with no knowledge of what over time literacy is common among the last out at Game 7 at Wrigley Field.” happened before the True Order, save how humans once more. ‘evil’ it was. All Religions were persecuted, December 1 WR: The War in the Middle East and eventually eradicated save for 225-230 WR: The first Western Culture goes Nuclear as Israel activated the Samson Buddhism which is protected by the Archie is found in the ruins of London: a Option. Named after the Biblical Judge who Chinese Government. cache of historical documents, including the “Died with the Philistines,” Israel responded Manga Carta, the US Constitution, and the with the first nuke targeted at them by During this time, people tried to take what UN’s Declaration of Human Rights. hacking into every possible ballistic missile records of the former society and hide them and targeted the entire Middle East in carpet from the current government. Documents 230-250 WR: A group of benevolent bombing configuration. were taken to other countries, put in kingdoms and city-states are founded under secluded places, buried in caches, and sent a common Magna Carta, designed after the Winter 1 WR: The remainder of the world out to sea. Many people gave up their lives found historical documents. This Alliance is experienced global societal, economic, and keeping Western Culture safe from this blessed by the Eladrin, who wished for this political collapse in windmill fashion, True Order. moment for humanity to regain their without a single country or region escaping potential. China also offers their support any kind of strife. Larger cities experienced 25 WR: The long-term effects of the Nuclear for this Alliance and resumes diplomatic rioting that turned into civil warfare that Fallout, combined with the current trend of relations and trade. turns streets into rivers of blood. In an Global Climate Change, resulted in rifts in effort to quell the unrest, the world this world, opening up two mirror realms, a 250-300 WR: A Renaissance is underway, as Governments shut down the Internet and realm of light and a realm of darkness. humanity returns to humanity-based all the media. These are Æthercoil’s Feywild and prospects. The printing press, preserved by Shadowfell. From the Feywild came the fay China, is taken up by the Alliance, and Spring 1 WR: The world’s governments in races, dwarves, and tieflings. This included knowledge, creativity, invention, and the Western World were overthrown by the near demigod-like Eladrin. From the literacy resumed. During this time, quests totalitarian powers, by the end of the year, to find out what happened during the past Shadowfell came the dragons, and the the world resembles a compilation of 1984, whole assortment of monsters, including centuries began, and they begin to piece Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, Anthem the orcs, goblinkind, and other general OSR together history. Most are in shock over and several other dystrophic novels. Driven scourges. how quickly humanity fell. Others are in by Social Justice-style politics, and claiming Sample file shock to find out that this Western Culture to provide an equal world for everybody at During this time, many animal species has not been completely erased as they all costs, they became the “True Order.” evolved and became sentient anthro races feared. of their own. North Korea took advantage of this chaos to Baseball is re-discovered by the Alliance, end the Armistice and resume the Korean Magic started to present itself due to the and the riddle of Point Zero is now War. North Korea took over South Korea in influx of energies created by these two understood. The Wrigley Reckoning under 24 days. A mechanical force from mirror realms. calendar gets its name and official Japan, caused by a just-awakened Artificial numbering. The sport has become a trans- Intelligence, returned the favor and took 26 WR: The True Order tried to defend kingdom sport throughout their Alliance as over North Korea in under 24 minutes. themselves at least, and attack at most, this a past-time and a way to settle disputes. influx of beings, monsters, and magic users. Baseball-related Curses is one of the few Of all of the World Governments, only China This resulted in another global collapse as crimes punishable by death. survived this downfall. It became the True such battles stretched worldwide. In the Order’s sole resistance and earned them end, the True Order fell. 300 WR: The start of the campaign world Emmanuel Goldstein status. proper. The first locations of Western 27-200 WR: The Eladrin managed to recover Culture Archives are discovered, and Summer 1 WR: The smoke finally clears in most of the surviving humans, but the adventurers are called forth to explore the Middle East, revealing the absence of majority of them were in a state severe them. said Middle East: The sheer number of ennui with no desire to move on. But their nukes has obliterated all existence of the children still showed a potential for area between Turkey to the middle of Saudi goodness, even greatness. Their parents, Arabia, and from Israel to Pakistan. Where having lived under oppressive governments was once oil fields is now an ocean. Africa and Social Justice-like beliefs, have their is now detached from Eurasia. Unknown to hope bred out of them. The Eladrin decided most people, the radiation has spread over to take these unwanted children in to raise to India, stopping at the Himalayan them and left the lost souls to their fate. Mountains, but this part remained unknown The children were encouraged to adventure to the world at large. (Remember that at and explore the world. Most of them did.

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The first point of contention: Tale theme wouldn’t be proper in this setting. I’m happy to report that I’ve got some feedback on After sleeping on it—something you should Æthercoil already. I got it when I tried to always do when facing criticism that isn’t ripping 8 compress Æthercoil into one paragraph7. Of your ass a new one —I found myself agreeing course, that leaves out a lot, and it presented a with them. facet I didn’t get out right. What convinced me is that, with the current They got the Post-Apocalyptic twist of an OSR timeline I listed above, I already have a group world, all right, but I threw some people off with a rehabbing humanity from where they found them, fairy tale angle; depicting it as a variation of the after the fall of the totalitarian rulers: The Eladrin, movie Shrek. (Also, the name might be a bit too which are an alien-like branch of High Elves. vague, but that’s something I can work on later.) They’ve found themselves in the position of someone seeing an abused and hurt puppy, having Here’s the paragraph in question: pity for the poor fella, taking them home to nursing him back to health. Only in this case, it’s At the surface, Æthercoil seems like an OSR an orphaned human child. Most of the take on the movie “Shrek,” where every fairy rehabilitated humans remained with the Eladrin tale has combined into a single world, where as their servants. The rest was encouraged to the fairy tale characters resemble what Walt explore the world and find out if there’s anything Disney would come up with if he did the hidden about their history. Surely such a past that movie, “Sucker Punch.” However, below the ended three fucking centuries ago wouldn’t be surface, you find that, instead of an old-time completely erased from existence, right? world, Æthercoil is really a post-apocalyptic realm, where the OSR world is built over the Right?! downfall of the Modern World. Some This idea occurred while I was brainstorming that remnants of this Modern World remains in night, in between REM cycles, and it was enough Æthercoil, but most of it is hidden in caves, for me to consider the Disney-Sucker Punch- castles, towers, ruins, and other places of Shrekword idea as dross that I can remove. Which adventure. It is the goal of the PCs in I did. Æthercoil is to find these relics of a by-gone era and restore them to their proper place in Besides, it isn’t like characters inspired by Disney the world. Films (or the Public Domain fairy tales they originated from) will be going completely away. A It’s easy to throw off some people when you’reSample Bellefile-like character living as a bookworm in a limited to one paragraph. Fortunately, I have this castle she converted into a giant library is just too magazine to further explain and hash out needed good to pass up. And I didn’t.9 items, such as what I’m doing right now: The other point of contention is the title itself. I As you see here, I included a Fairy Tale theme in thought of ‘Æthercoil’ to invoke a mental image of the campaign world, ruled by a group of souped- magical energy coursing through a Tesla coil. It’s up Princesses. Think of what Walt Disney decided designed to show my combination of OSR and to throw off all pretentions and create something Steampunk in the logo. like Sucker Punch. Any one of these stylized versions of the Princesses clock in near Elminster Both name and logo can be changed. I found Aumar’s level of power, and I have eight of them at another mental image as I’m writing a short the start. timeline, with Humanity rising up from its own ashes and regain their spark of life, hope, and Side note: I also thought up this facet so I can dreams for a better world. I don’t know if a introduce younger players into D&D 5th Edition Phoenix image would be proper, and sparks are with a “Honobono Mode.” I’ll describe the term closer to what’s going on with Wizard’s other later in this magazine. flagship IP, Magic: the Gathering, but it’s something for me to play with. Maybe I’d have a While I still would like a Honobono Mode in my campaign, the feedback I got told me that the Fairy Phoenix which can count as a deity, and if I have

7 http://therpgpundit.blogspot.com/2016/06/classic-rant- 8 Those kind of criticism does exist; it’s all in the delivery of the why-rpgs-fail.html criticism. 9 #SorryNotSorry

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the opportunity during the worldbuilding process I’ll consider it. It’s this sort of constructive criticism and feedback that I’ll take and work with in this magazine—if you wish, you can request anonymity, and I’ll be sure to hand you a Guy Fawkes10 mask for the occasion—incorporating your input into the creative process. Maybe we’ll make a regularly haggle session in Google Plus or Google Hangouts. If you’re interested, you know where I’ll be. Magazine Format After some big article like the above, this magazine will be divided into the three main publications and one extra. The ‘Players Handbook’ section will have player options and tips that are too short to put into their own document. Part of the reason why I set this magazine up. The ‘Monster Manual’ section will have an individual type of monster that I’ll make into a scalable monster. The stat blocks will have Variable Names in them, and an accompanying table will show what to put in them. This will prove useful when setting up an encounter and you find the MM blocks too hard or easy. The ‘Dungeon Master’s Guide’ will have some explanations on how I DM, what tools I use, and some talk about my thought processes behind my campaign creation and revision. This may also include campaigns I’m planning for the DungeonSample file Master’s Guide. And finally, the Fluff Section, where I end the issue with a short story or serial, or comic strip that will provide some insight into the Æthercoil world. I intended to show my world through not just the campaign, but also through story and art, and I hope that this magazine can branch off into other successful projects, including those put elsewhere in the One Book Shelf family.

10 Hopefully the hacker group of the same name doesn’t mind. I’m friends with some of them.

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Making a 5E character

My biggest regret so far as a Dungeon Master is However, the above options has a caveat coming that I don’t give my players a good way to create a from me: The campaign you’re in might not stick character. I want to give them more than just a to the character sheet, especially when the DM borrowed Player’s Handbook and a sheet of paper. looks at the Adventures’ League’s guidelines and Fortunately, I have other players on the table goes “Pshaw!”12 Eventually you’ll get a special who’re more than willing to help a newbie out. reward that you can’t shoehorn into the form, or you want to use a third party race or feet that you I’m afraid this is caused by my autism. When found off the internet13, which isn’t yet supported you’re autistic, not only are you the most by Hero Lab. articulate person in the world, (Some Autistics barely talk if at all) but you’re not much of a That’s why I go old school in my character multitasker, so when you sit on the table trying to building: I’d use a plain piece of paper for my get your mind on the session at hand, and then characters; or rather a plain Microsoft Word file. I someone walks up and needs to roll up a even made a template for my character sheet. I character, it throws my proverbial train of thought made the template available for anyone who off the proverbial tracks. What’s left is a near wants to download and use it for your characters: inability to get the right thoughts out through my https://1drv.ms/w/s!AjghU-xdUFQahBkHaS1VSkiyiPP5 mouth. A condition I call “Autism Speaking.” I plug everything into that document and copy it However, I’m a lot more articulate, if not perfect11, into One Note for managing. I love using One Note with the written word. So I’ve written an outline because it’s an electronic version of a binder, on making a new character. I’m assuming you’re where you can separate your characters by making a Level 1 character, although adding levels section and include adventure logs, treasure lists, shouldn’t be too difficult once you get a couple and other important items with each character practice characters under your belt. sheet. Protip #1: Have a stable of several different You can do a low-tech version by getting one of characters and keep them in a folder, either digital those 70-sheet spiral notebooks, make the or hardcopy, and bring that along with your dice character with the first 10 pages or so, and section and miniature. It’ll help you settle into a new off the rest to track your inventory, experience, table, especially if one of these precons fills Samplein a andfile magic items. need in the party. Oh, and even if you don’t abide by the Protip #2: Blank character sheets and pencils are Adventurers’ League, using their adventure logs in also a good idea. Emphasis on the pencils, it’ll some form is a good idea. If you don’t like the become apparent after your first session. forms WotC has on their site, Chris Perkins isn’t going to drag you away with me. A bullet journal14 Step 1: Choose your Character Sheet will do just fine. There are three big decisions with creating a Step 2: Decide on a character character, the first of which has to be what you’re putting that character in. For most people, using This will take all of five minutes or fill up an entire the standard Character Sheet from WotC works week, deciding what you want to play as. If you just fine. I won’t look at you any lesser for doing know what everyone else on the table is playing that. and would want to have a character that complements them, then picking a stock character Can you use a character manager like Hero Lab or is easy. Otherwise, you might have a character use Fantasy Grounds as such? Sure, whatever already in mind and can think long and hard about works. I use Hero Lab for my 3.5ed and the details. Once you found the right combination Pathfinder games anyway. of Race, Class, Background, other details, look into

11 I mean, pfft, how many errors have you found by now? Even 14 I can’t be responsible for explaining everything in this after three Grammar Checkers? publication. You want to know how a Bullet Journal works? 12 Like me, naturally. Google it yourself! 13 Or make your own classes or race, like I’ve done.

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your Player’s Handbook, your internet research, below. That gives a result of 12-18. The other and other documents you got your details from players shot him down almost immediately. and get them together. Note: Would now be a good time to assume you Protip #3: Having reference links to options you know what dice notation16 is? get online is required nine times out of ten. It’s a While having six attributes in the upper teens is rare DM who would let go something that looks frowned upon, I also don’t like any attribute below like you pulled it out of your own ass. 10. I would get a low attribute if it suits a With these options, plug in all the traits of your character, like an elvish cleric who’s a total klutz. character’s race, class, and background into your So I have a special method of rolling dice. I make a sheet. Include all of your character’s proficiencies, six by six array where I roll 1d6r1+1d6+6. (This select your (normally) four skills (outside of the makes a bull curve from 9 to 18.) I emulate this in ones you get from race or backgrounds), list the Excel using [ =6 + RANDBETWEEN(2,6) + hit dice, and if you wish and there’s a list of RANDBETWEEN(1,6) ]. I close my eyes and starting inventory, plug in a starting inventory. press F9 about a hundred times, open my eyes, Do you have to concern yourself with the and I pick a row or a column. Or let the DM picks a Personality Traits section in your sheet? To be row or a column. The row or column picked is the honest, it’s no big deal. What I found at my side of array I use. I have the Excel sheet with the array the DM’s Screen is that my players are only here: https://1drv.ms/x/s!AjghUxdUFQahBuqEVMWebIJK93w . I concerned with the gameplay first and learn more suggest downloading the sheet and using an on- about the character’s personality as they play. board spreadsheet program with it. This is perfectly normal15. Just like with writing fiction, your first characters will be pretty wooden Step 4. Here comes the Maaaaaaath! and flat at Level 1. You find more about your Now that you got your scores, plug them into the character during the gameplay, and hopefully, attributes section of your character sheet. (Keep your character gets well developed by the end of in mind which ones are best for your class.) Add the campaign. You don’t know how that happens any modifiers from the options and then compute now. If you need to leave the personality block the modifiers. (Take the Score, subtract 10, and blank right now, go ahead. You can fill it up when divide by 2. For some reason, I always have to say you need to. Nobody’s putting a gun to your head this.) From there, plug in the bonuses for saves and forcing you to fill that part. and skills, compute the Starting Hit Points, Speed, Step 3. Rolling your stats and Initiative modifiers. If your character has a Sample spellcastingfile ability, compute the Spellcasting Ah, the stat rolls. The most talked about subject Modifier and the Spell Save DC as well. and the most diverse way to answer it. Standard Array, Point Buy, 3d6, 4d6k3, 2d6+6, others? I Step 5. Equip your character once saw a scheme of playing Blackjack for them. If you haven’t set up your character’s starting I think it’s best that you talk with the DM about inventory yet, do so now. Using the Quick Build what’s used and go with that. If they don’t have a option for a starting Inventory will work just well, concrete choice, feel free to use the one you’re although you can get more in-depth with Chapter accustomed to, as long as the resulting stats aren’t 5 in the PH. With here, you’ll be able to find the rejected by the other party members. Because of attack actions and your AC, which you can add on this, having someone watch you roll your dice or top of the character sheet. verify your results is a good idea if you don’t want The same goes with the spells, listing both the to be thrown out of the table before you even set spells you prepare for the character and whatever started. spellbook list you would include. An example of that is one of my munchkin players Step 6. Do the finishing touches named Denzil, who once made a mistake by using 3d6r<3. That’s right, 3d6 rerolling on 3s and By now you have everything you need on your character sheet to start playing. Of course, looking

15 This is Old School D&D, not a storygame. result. Roll20 has a better tutorial on how to read dice notation 16 I just plain know someone has never heard of AdB+C as I’m at https://wiki.roll20.net/Dice_Reference typing this: Roll A number of B-sided dice and add C to the

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it over to see that everything’s kosher is a good Finally, find a token or miniature for your idea. Let the DM inspect it to make sure that character. It might take a while for you to find the everything’s in-game legal. right token, and another while to learn how to paint one, but if you could find any token that you If you have a small backstory for your character, can use in a pinch, nobody’s going to sneer at you. go ahead and plug that in. It doesn’t have to be If you’re lucky, someone would find one for you on anything in depth; just a couple sentences will do. the table. If all else fails, you can’t go wrong with a Like with the Personality Traits, if you don’t have bottle cap with your initials written on it in one, don’t fret, it’s no big deal. Sharpie. Player Options in Æthercoil While I’m designing Æthercoil with more Item: Dark Elves in Æthercoil restrictions than what the SRD limits you to (Add Drow retain most of their traits: Their ebony skin, the following to the official ‘Public Identity’ list for white hair, taste for pleasure and decadence, what is ‘Out:’ All Angels, All Demons, All Devils, perchance for stealth and skullduggery if needed. 17 [almost] all Deities , The Fiend warlock patron— The difference comes in not only their homeland more on that in a moment—all Power Word spells, but their patron deity. and the Deck of Many Things18) you only need some light tweaking in your Player’s Handbook. The majority of Drow in Æthercoil call Africa home. In fact, they are sometimes called ‘African However, there are a plethora of player options Elves.’ Their origin came when the fey and available. I’d like to find out during playtesting shadow crossings dotted the earth. Several fey what homemade material can be considered crossings occurred in Africa, resulting not only in “Æthercoil Compatible.” A good amount of reforesting most of the landmass, but also in the 19 material in the DM’s Guild , Reddit’s Unearthed elves taking on physical attributes of the region. 20 Arcana board , and Tumblr’s 5E Homebrew In the Eladrin’s case, that means darkening their 21 feed can be used straight—and if I end up using skin, which also produces the light hair. Some of it, I’ll provide the proper credits to the source. the locals even mated with these elves, producing Some options will need to be tweaked, and offspring that were drow naturally22. options that are done by several sources will get compiled into a single option. For the record,Sample Andfile then there’s the being perpetrating this anything I release in DriveThruRPG is “Æthercoil transformation in Africa, who is my earliest twist Compatible,” and most of them are compilation in my Forgotten Realms: options. It started during DDO’s Menace of the Underdark storyline23; the Forgotten Realms’ Lolth merged The Changes to your Player’s with Ebberon’s Spinner of Shadows to draw the latter’s realm into the former’s Demonweb. Handbook Personally, I think this is what caused the Item: Dwarves in Æthercoil Sundering in the first place. The quest ‘Beyond the Rift’ hinted that this wasn’t the first plane Lolth The majority of the Drawves in Æthercoil hail appropriated. The players found many planes from the Siberia, with some additional clans in the already grafted into the Demonweb, each one Alps and Himalayas. Because of this, most conquered by the Demon Queen of Spiders. Dwarves have Russian accents and mannerisms, instead of the stereotypical Scottish ones. All That got me thinking: Maybe one of those planes other features remain as written. was a Mirror Image of the Forgotten Realms, where Lolth came face to face with a flipped version of herself, a Lolth that didn’t become the

17 Only one deity from all the Earthern Pantheons remained. 20 https://www.reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/ Hints on his identity will come later. Just call him “Yeshu” for 21 http://dnd-5e-homebrew.tumblr.com/ now. 22 An Eladrin-Human pairing always produces Elf offspring, 18 Especially the Deck of Many Fucking Things!! either Moon or Wild. 19 http://www.dmsguild.com/ 23 http://ddowiki.com/page/Menace_of_the_Underdark

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Demon Queen, though still is a Queen of Spiders: all of the extremist groups there were Araushnee, a drow goddess that Lolth was, who is systematically hunted down, dismantled, and still a graceful and beautiful elven goddess of killed en masse. destiny, artisans, and dark elves, uncorrupted by African Elves have the same mechanics as the ambition or Evil. In her home realm she saw that Drow sub-race in the Player’s Handbook25, and realm’s Corellon grow too power-hungry for the you can use the same features for your character good of the fey, so she captured him in a web and sheet. sent him to the Abyss. She is everything Lolth has lost in her own drive for power. Tieflings in Æthercoil They hated each other on sight. Because there are no devils in Æthercoil, Tieflings do not have the infernal pact in their history that Araushnee chased Lolth into Faerun and fought turned them into the devilish beings they are. I with her throughout most the Sundering era. needed an alternative and, as I looked at Greek- Between the Menace of the Underdark and the inspired planes and stories like Magic: the Rage of Demons storylines, I’m surprised there’s Gathering’s Theros block, I found my answer. an Underdark left. Don’t think diabolically, think debauchery. Eventually, the two had to be separated. Lolth is still in her Demonweb, but eight demon lords An Æthercoil tiefling has surrendered his life to want to have a talk with her, so she’s taken care of. wild living; drink, dance, partying, sex, drugs, rock Araushnee, however, found herself in the and roll, dips, chips, chains, whips, he’s drawn to it Æthercoil’s Africa, with a good amount of her and will dive into it with abandon. Instead of most devoted followers. She took up the mantle of devils, they act more like Satyrs, frolicking across Aransi—a variant of the African folktale character the land in search of hedonistic pleasures, and if Anansi—and made her citadel in the heart of the other beings are left in their wake, not continent, gathering the new drow as her people remembering what they’ve done and not sure they and transforming some in her cocoons. She want to know, so be it. became, in effect, one of the few Gods remaining in Æthercoil Tieflings retain their physical image— this world. horns, tail and all—but are mechanically that of a (Okay, the Deity count in Æthercoil is now at 2.) Satyr in every other feature. For an example and for a playtesting option, I took the race option African Elves combine their local culture with created by bernardoklain at imgur26 and tweaked elvish sensibilities. They’ve become nocturnal by it: nature, preferring the nighttime because of theirSample file sensitive eyes and skin. Their lifestyle is closer to Physical Appearance: As mentioned, they do not followers of Eilistraee24, with their sense of have goat legs. They retain their devilish features. community and compassion. Aransi encourages Ability Score Increase: +2 Charisma, +1 the “village raising the child” and instructs them to Dexterity be kind to each other. (You do NOT see stuff like what happened in Salvatore’s Homeland in African Age: They reach adulthood around 20 years, but Elves.) Aransi’s teachings can be summed up in: only live up to 100 years due to their partying. “The world is harsh enough as it is. We shouldn’t Alignment: Chaotic Neutral, nuf said. add to it.” Size: They are medium size. There are two parts of African Elves is similar to Typical Drow. One is a sense of gamesmanship Speed: 30 Feet, or 6 Squares27 with each other, tempered by fair play. Bringing Darkvision 60 yourself up by killing off someone else higher than you are frowned upon. The second is in how they Fey Ancestry: By now you should know what this deal with those who want to kill, rape, burn, means. enslave and otherwise oppress the people around them. In the ten years after Drow entered Africa,

24 http://www.dmsguild.com/product/176361/ Note: Most of 26 http://imgur.com/gallery/UwrUU the practices and options in this document can be used in 27 Another takeout from 4th Edition; Squares have a standard playtesting Æthercoil, replacing Eilistraee with Aransi. scale of 5 Feet to an Inch. These are used for some maps. 25 Page 24 in the PH.

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