Grimcatch (map)

Grimcatch (map)

The home of the grimlocks. When an earthquake cracked Jeraslan in half, the heroes descended into Grimcatch to heal its roots. There, they found a large tribe of grimlocks preparing to make war on the surface! With daring and determination, they killed the grimlocks and burned their home out to keep the orulin and the elven lands safe.

Game session, 2005.04.23

Published to Google Docs.

Smileworm

Smileworm

Hit Dice: 1d4 (3hp)
Size: Tiny
Type: Aberration
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft.
AC: 19 (+2 size, +1 Dex, +6 natural armor; 13 touch; 18 flat-footed)
Attack: Bite +1 melee (1d4-1)
Grapple: -7
Full attack: Bite +1 melee (1d4-1)
Space: 2 1/2 ft.
Reach: none
Special Attacks: Spell Regurgitation (Su)
Special Qualities: Spell Storing (Su)
Saves: Fort -1, Ref +1, Will +1
Abilities: Str 8, Dex 12, Con 8, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 4
Skills: Hide +4, Move silently +5
Feats: Stealthy
Environment: Underground
Organization: Solitary
CR: 2
Treasure: no coins
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Advancement: 1 HD (Small), 2 HD (Medium)

Synopsis: The smileworm is a 1' to 2' long, black or brown slug-like lifeform. It is covered in tough scales and its body is nearly pure tough muscle. On the back of a smileworm is a humanoid face, with closed eyes, lips, a chin, and so on. The face is made of the same dark scales that the smileworm is covered in.

A smileworm feeds on magical spellcasting and seeks out spellcasting situations such as battles, so it can stay on the fringes and absorb sustenance.

Combat: A smileworm's primary attack is a bite. It can use this when it crawls into range, and it can crawl startlingly fast given its size and anatomy. A smileworm generally attacks with its special attacks.

Special Attacks:
Spell Regurgitation (Su)
With this ability, a smileworm can cast captured spells (see Special Qualities, Spell Capturing). This works exactly like invoking spells stored in a Ring of Spell Storing.

Special Qualities:
Spell Capturing (su)
A standard tiny smileworm can absorb up to 7 spell levels of spells. It only has to be within 20' of the caster of a spell. This works whether the casting is from a spellcaster, a Ring of Spell Storing, a staff, a scroll, etc. The smileworm must prepare to absorb a spell; absorbing is (at least) a full-round action and the smileworm must begin the action of capturing spells before the spellcasting actually begins. To capture a spell, the smileworm must not take any actions, and must continue to concentrate on capturing from the beginning until the final moment of casting. Spells with an instantaneous casting time cannot be captured. Captured spells have no effect, and become stored in the smileworm, available for regurgitation later.

Larger versions of a smileworm may be able to handle more spell levels of energy.

Game Session, 2005.03.18

Published to Google Docs.

House Rules

1. Official SRD rules say that each round a character is Dying, they get a 10% chance to stabilize. This rule is amended: to stabilize, a character must make a DC 19 Fort save.
   
   Justification: Makes characters with stronger constitutions more likely to survive grievous wounds; at high levels it makes stabilizing easier to do, but then, at high levels it's far more likely that a powerful attack will kill the character outright anyway.
   
2. Leveling up requires 2 days spent "in town", reviewing the skills of their new class level with another skilled adventurer's assistance. This person does not need to be a member of the class, they are merely helping the character concentrate. The buddy can also be training at the same time, it is not a fulltime job; therefore, both buddies can level up simultaneously if they both have enough XP. If a "mentor" can be found to act as buddy, the time is reduced to 1 day. A mentor is a character at least 2 class levels greater than the character leveling up in the same class.
   
   Justification: Makes a more realistic transition for the PC, and puts a higher premium on keeping an escape route open to town. It's short because the PC has really been training for the next level the entire time they've been adventuring, and the training session merely represents an effort to concentrate on what was learned.
3. Alternate unbalanced multi-class penalty. There is no 20% XP penalty for class levels that are not within 2 levels of the primary class. Instead, the penalty is that the "leveling up" period, described above, is doubled to 4 days for classes 2 or more levels apart from the primary class. Even with a mentor, an unbalanced class takes 4 days to level up, not 2.
   
   Justification: Simpler rule. The 20% XP penalty means it is impossible to "work backwards" and figure out a character's class levels from his XP, which is one of the best things about the new XP system. The amended rule means it will always be possible to work backwards.
   
4. Official SRD rules say that drawing or sheathing a weapon is a move action, unless you have a BAB of +1, in which case it is a free action when done simultaneously with a regular move. This rule is amended: Drawing or sheathing is still a move action, but it may be done as a free action during a regular move, by anyone. This also applies to readying or loosing a shield.
   
   Also, a clarification: this rule also applies to swapping one weapon or shield for another. It does not take two move actions to swap a bow for a sword, for example, only one. Swapping a bow for a sword and a shield is still two move actions.
   
   Justification: This is much easier to adjudicate by the DM. There's no reason why BAB would affect this.
   
5. The following PC races and classes are not found in the Nest of Candles world: Gnome, Halfling, Wizard (and specialists), Sorceror. An adapted version of the sorceror called Arcanist is available. Gnomes and Halflings simply do not exist in the world of Gabbent. Wizard becomes an NPC-only class, and is simply a scholar with some of the abilities of the arcanist. New variants of PC races and a new prestige class will be available to play further into the campaign. (More details on this to come.)

Map of Olemheiden

Olemheiden

The forest home of most of the PCs, this is where the Nest of Candles campaign begins. Olemheiden is unique for its orulins, mile-high trees where half a dozen elven tribes spend their entire lives.