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Hwurmp
May 20, 2005



Steam and soot darken the skies above the city of Flint, and winds sweeping across its majestic harbor blow the choking products of industrial forges into the fey rainforests that dot its knife-toothed mountains. Since the earliest ages when the people of Risur founded this city, they feared the capricious beings that hid in those fog-shrouded peaks, but now, as the march of progress and the demands of national defense turn Flint into a garden for artifice and technology, the old faiths and rituals that kept the lurkers of the woods at bay are being abandoned.



The Unseen Court, the Great Hunt, and the many spirits of the land long ago conquered by Risur’s kings no longer receive tribute, but they cannot enter these new cities of steam and steel to demand their tithe. The impoverished workers who huddle in factory slums fear monsters of a different breed, shadowy children of this new urban labyrinth. Even their modern religions have no defenses against these fiends.



Times are turning. The skyseers, Risur’s folk prophets since their homeland’s birth, witness omens in the starry wheels of heaven and they warn that a new age is nigh. But what they cannot foresee, hidden beyond the steam and soot of the night sky, is the face of this coming era, the spirit of the next age. The zeitgeist.


Zeitgeist: The Gears of Revolution is a D&D adventure path from EN Publishing, with 8 adventures currently released out of a planned 13 spanning all the way from level 1 to 30. PCs are newly appointed agents of the kingdom of Risur's Royal Homeland Constabulary, the foremost defenders of the crown. All races, nationalities, and walks of life are welcome in the RHC--Royal Constables must have uncommon talents and unshakeable loyalty, and suitable candidates are rare enough that the Inspectors cannot afford to discriminate.

The other most important thing to know about Zeitgeist:



An industrial revolution is on and this setting has firearms. Amazingly, they do not suck, at least not with the proper preparations. Pistols, carbines, and muskets are all reskins of existing crossbows with the High Crit and Brutal 2 properties. There are also rifled variants that allow a marksman to strike from extreme range. Shotguns allow two attack rolls and extra damage in close quarters. Finally there are grenades, which turn any ranged weapon attack into an area burst 1 that deals half damage on a miss--as long as your throw isn't off. Every feat, enchantment, and anything else that applies to crossbows can be applied to firearms.

Most guns do have a serious drawback: reloading is a standard action. If you're interested in making a shooty character, there are a few ways around this. The simplest might be to wear a brace of pistols along with some way to draw weapons as a free action, like the Quick Draw feat, Battle Harness armor, a Deep-Pocket Cloak, or the Thri-Kreen's Multiple Arms ability. You can also take steps to reduce the action cost of reloading. The Speed Loader feat, the Hunter ranger's Crossbow Hunter feature, and the Swiftshot Weapon enchantment will all reduce firearm reloading to a move action. Any two of those together would make it a minor. Starting at level 5, characters with the Gunsmith theme can choose to offer a permanent solution with upgraded ammo clips that allow five or six shots before a minor-action reload. Or you might just skip all that crap, treat your gun as an encounter attack, and use a bow for everything else.

You're also allowed to have bayonets, weeaboo gunblades, and other firearm/melee weapon combos, within reason. No Greataxe/Target Pistols, for example, unless your explanation is funny. You could also have a firearm/implement, refluffed as energy crystals or thaumic channeling rails or whatever. Please make a note of any combined weapons in your submissions, and remember that the firearm half and melee/implement half are still treated as separate items with separate enchantments.

Character Creation and House Rules:

--Refer to the Zeitgeist Player's Guide, available for free here, for details on the setting and new character options. Please try to avoid completely spoiling the overall plot for yourself with the Campaign Guide and first adventure, also available for free elsewhere.
--Tieflings, Devas, and Eladrin are all significantly changed from the PHB default. A lot of the other races aren't mentioned at all. Get as inventive as you wish for those. The world map includes a lot of blank-slate "Border States" areas for anyone who wants to make places up.
--Start at 1st level with 100 gold.
--Turn on Inherent Bonuses.
--As per the Player's Guide, all PCs get Primordial as a bonus language.
--Take 3 extra feats. New players should choose Improved Defenses, the Essentials Expertise feat for your character's weapon or implement, and Melee Training if your character is mostly melee but lacks a strong melee basic attack.
--No dragonmarks.
--Your character theme must be one of the new Zeitgeist themes. Don't worry, they are pretty sweet. Make sure to list your theme in your submission post.
--Backgrounds are fine, even the HORRIBLY BROKEN AND OP Scales of War ones that give you a whole 4 extra HP.
--When it comes to compensation, the RHC is more organized, and more prosaic, then your typical mob of freelance murderhobos. Instead of loot, Royal Constables are granted regular requisition stipends for all mundane or magical equipment. Common, Uncommon, and Rare items are freely available. Any gear you requisition may be returned at a later date for a refund of its full value. If you come across useful items in the field, you are free to make use of them, but at the date of your next report they must either be turned in to your Inspector or purchased with funds from your stipend. This cost does not apply to freely given gifts.
--Royal Constables also have serious clout in the community. The Prestige system, detailed on pages 18-20 of the Player's Guide, has rules for calling in favors with local figures to arrange things like City Watch backup, ritual casting, emergency requisitions, shady deeds, etc.
--Post your character sheet on Orokos and link it here.
--Please be able to post frequently, even if it's just "Busy having a life right now, will pretend to be elves later."

I will warn you that this is the first Play-By-Post I've ever tried to run. :ohdear:

I'll keep recruiting open until next weekend.

Hwurmp fucked around with this message at 12:31 on Sep 2, 2014

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Hwurmp
May 20, 2005

Reserved for submissions.

pre:
Korhal              Reape              Artificer     Technologist
Daeren              Bharhash           Warlord       Yerasol Veteran
Captain Walker      Charles Easting    Bard          Docker
Manifest Dynasty    Quinn              Artificer     Technologist

potatocubed         Unit 9             Fighter       Martial Scientist
PurplieNurplie      Beriah Vered       Paladin       Yerasol Veteran

Bitchtits McGee     Blaine Taggart     Monk          Martial Scientist
djw175              Faral              Rogue         Gunsmith
TheLovablePlutonis  Sander             Avenger       Martial Scientist

Bacon In A Wok      Seb Vishailthan    Wizard        Spirit Medium
Obligatum VII       Adrik Tarn         Protector     Eschatologist
Lord of Bore        Bran Owain         Hunter        Gunsmith
Androc              Matias             Invoker       Martial Scientist
Generic Octopus     Kelbrinn           Hunter        Martial Scientist

Gharbad the Weak    F.R.E.D.           SwordLock     Vekeshi Mystic
frankenfreak        Cryss Portman      ArdBard       Spirit Medium
Ryuujin             Hawthorn           WarCutioner   Vekeshi Mystic
ProfessorCirno      Cha Ravah          CleriFicer    Docker

Hwurmp fucked around with this message at 22:29 on Sep 4, 2014

Captain Walker
Apr 7, 2009

Mother knows best
Listen to your mother
It's a scary world out there
Fantasy cops in a high magic setting with advanced tech? I feel like I've been here, and enjoyed it. Leader on the way

AdjectiveNoun
Oct 11, 2012

Everything. Is. Fine.
Definitely posting interest.

Harthacnut
Jul 29, 2014

This sounds like a blast, I'll get myself more familiar with the setting and should have the start of something up tomorrow evening. I'm leaning controller right now, about time I gave one a try.

CirclMastr
Jul 4, 2010

I'm interested but have VERY little experience with 4E, is that alright?

Hwurmp
May 20, 2005

CirclMastr posted:

I'm interested but have VERY little experience with 4E, is that alright?

It's all good. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions you have. That goes for everybody, of course.

djw175
Apr 23, 2012

by zen death robot
I am always interested in 4e.

girl dick energy
Sep 30, 2009

You think you have the wherewithal to figure out my puzzle vagina?
Posting interest.

Indigo Cephalopods
Oct 26, 2012

Justice Rains From Above
Also posting interest.

Plutonis
Mar 25, 2011

Interest, possibly.

Androc
Dec 26, 2008

Interest, for sure. I assume that stuff from Zeitgeist specifically should just be written down in the notes section of the character sheet? Also, can we buy rare items like grenades with our initial money?

djw175
Apr 23, 2012

by zen death robot
I feel like I should actually say this so no one takes it, I'm making a gunsmith rogue.

Hwurmp
May 20, 2005

Androc posted:

Interest, for sure. I assume that stuff from Zeitgeist specifically should just be written down in the notes section of the character sheet? Also, can we buy rare items like grenades with our initial money?

Yes and yes.

Androc
Dec 26, 2008

djw175 posted:

I feel like I should actually say this so no one takes it, I'm making a gunsmith rogue.

Let's be real here, this party is going to have five gunsmiths and one objectively incorrect person.

djw175
Apr 23, 2012

by zen death robot

Androc posted:

Let's be real here, this party is going to have five gunsmiths and one objectively incorrect person.

Accurate. I was mostly just saying I'm going rogue.

Harthacnut
Jul 29, 2014

Quick question, what's the situation with Backgrounds? Not using them?

Androc posted:

Let's be real here, this party is going to have five gunsmiths and one objectively incorrect person.

Possible gunsmith hunter reporting in :getin:

Hwurmp
May 20, 2005

Lord of Bore posted:

Quick question, what's the situation with Backgrounds? Not using them?

I knew I forgot something. Backgrounds are fine.

djw175
Apr 23, 2012

by zen death robot
I asked this over PMs because I didn't want to doublepost, but I may as well post it here. Does two-fisted shooter work for pistols and stack with speed loader?

ArkInBlack
Mar 22, 2013
conflicted between roboticist theme or gunsmith but probably a Warlord gonna get slated up for this.

Hwurmp
May 20, 2005

djw175 posted:

I asked this over PMs because I didn't want to doublepost, but I may as well post it here. Does two-fisted shooter work for pistols and stack with speed loader?



Sorry, I have to change my answer. Two-Fisted Shooter does not actually decrease load times. Hand crossbows are already load free, it just normally requires an empty hand. You'd need something else to make pistols load minor. The off-hand wielding, one-handed loading, and free crit attack would still work though.

Hwurmp fucked around with this message at 03:26 on Sep 1, 2014

CommaToes
Dec 15, 2006

Ecce Buffo
Ooh, I may do this.

Generic Octopus
Mar 27, 2010
Posting interest, have a kreen defender in mind. Is there an irc for this game?

Hwurmp
May 20, 2005

Generic Octopus posted:

Is there an irc for this game?

No.

Androc
Dec 26, 2008

A few questions:
Are additional martial scientist techniques detailed anywhere? There's only the one in the theme description, and while I get that not knowing what's coming is sort of the intent, it would be good to at least have a general idea of what I'm getting into.
Flavor-wise, would it be acceptable to have an 'implement' that's just a magic gun? I love the whole firearms aspect of the setting but there's, like, three classes that actually use ranged weapons as it turns out.

AdjectiveNoun
Oct 11, 2012

Everything. Is. Fine.
I'm not sure how to make a sheet for Orokos, and my googling informs me that I have to have a subscription to some WotC thing to actually get the file extension Orokos wants. Is it okay if I whip one up my character sheet in Googledocs instead?

Hwurmp
May 20, 2005

Androc posted:

A few questions:
Are additional martial scientist techniques detailed anywhere? There's only the one in the theme description, and while I get that not knowing what's coming is sort of the intent, it would be good to at least have a general idea of what I'm getting into.
Flavor-wise, would it be acceptable to have an 'implement' that's just a magic gun? I love the whole firearms aspect of the setting but there's, like, three classes that actually use ranged weapons as it turns out.

It's a secret :ssh:

And sure, there's no problem with reskinning implements as guns that shoot magic.

Possible ranged-weapon classes include: Ranger, Rogue, Thief, Executioner, Warlord, Artificer, Bard, Seeker, Hunter. Defenders kind of get screwed there, but a Fighter with dual 18s in Strength/Dexterity would at least be able to mark at range, and have a decent ranged basic attack out of the box.

Hwurmp
May 20, 2005

AdjectiveNoun posted:

I'm not sure how to make a sheet for Orokos, and my googling informs me that I have to have a subscription to some WotC thing to actually get the file extension Orokos wants. Is it okay if I whip one up my character sheet in Googledocs instead?

Just so long as you don't mind all the math.

Manifest Dynasty
Feb 29, 2008
Oh, man. I haven't played 4e in a long time, but this is making me want to roll up a shotgun toting artificer SOOOO bad...

Korhal
Aug 9, 2007
Chaos and evolution, baby.
Posting interest like woah. Very cool concept idea.

Technologist Artificer incoming.

Korhal fucked around with this message at 20:53 on Sep 1, 2014

Bitchtits McGee
Jul 1, 2011
Calculating.

Obligatum VII
May 5, 2014

Haunting you until no 8 arrives.
This sounds quite interesting. I'm currently mulling over two ideas, which do you think would fit better in your game?

1. Eladrin Hybrid Warlock (Fey Pact)/Swordmage (Aegis of Assault). Mechanically, the two classes actually mesh pretty well and Eladrin can pull off a dual int/cha build. Also, I really like teleporting.

Story-wise, I figure he's partly a diplomat. Relations between the Eladrin and most everyone else are notably pretty bad. Having someone in the Royal Constables who does a good job could be a big boon towards fixing that. His race's reputation is riding on him not messing up, so he takes the job pretty seriously.

2. Dwarf Protector Druid. Mechanically, I think protector druids are pretty neat and difficult terrain can be rather handy. I like the idea of having a more plants and spellcasting focused druid over the shapeshifting sort.

Story-wise he's something of a pariah among other dwarves for having befriended the various fungi (particularly I'm thinking of myconoids) that tend to plague their mining operations. He was sent off with a recommendation by the dwarven higher-ups to keep him out of the way. Maybe the Royal Constables will have a use for his weird fungus magic, maybe not. At least he's out of their beards.

frankenfreak
Feb 16, 2007

I SCORED 85% ON A QUIZ ABOUT MONDAY NIGHT RAW AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY TEXT

#bastionboogerbrigade
:getin: Hell yeah, I've always wanted to see what Zeitgeist is about. I'll definitely make an app for this and would be on board as a reader if I'm not getting picked.

Manic_Misanthrope
Jul 1, 2010


Probably make something like a Riot control Paladin. Heavy Armour, heavy shield etc.

potatocubed
Jul 26, 2012

*rathian noises*
This sounds like a job for Unit 9, warforged justice dispenser. Thinking paladin, but I might go fighter.

Bitchtits McGee
Jul 1, 2011

Androc posted:

I assume that stuff from Zeitgeist specifically should just be written down in the notes section of the character sheet?

This may be of interest.

Hwurmp
May 20, 2005

Obligatum VII posted:

This sounds quite interesting. I'm currently mulling over two ideas, which do you think would fit better in your game?

Either one. Pick whichever you want to play.

Bitchtits McGee
Jul 1, 2011

Blaine Taggart, Human "Self-Smith"

(Background to follow.)
(may or may not actually come up with a name, too :v:)

Hwurmp
May 20, 2005

Weapon Expertise (Staff) won't do anything for you. Take the Essentials Staff Expertise feat instead. You could also take Resilient Focus instead of Human Perseverance for a larger bonus to saves.

4E FEATS :hurr:

Hwurmp fucked around with this message at 15:00 on Sep 1, 2014

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Harthacnut
Jul 29, 2014


I had a quick look at using this but the rules used seem to be different than those in the player guide, specifically the firearms expertise feat doesn't give the 'ignore cover' bonus stated in the guide, instead it's an instant load minor, which is a bit strange. For now I'm just sticking to using the crossbow feats as placeholders.

e: I just read the old version of the player guide and yeah, it turns out that .part file uses outdated firearm rules

Harthacnut fucked around with this message at 16:01 on Sep 1, 2014

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