D&D Isekai: Render Unto Them A New World

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

OK...Now I can actually answer posts!

Sorry for the long post on my part guys. ^^"

Alright, so a thought occurs: do we want any of our PCs to already know each-other pre-Isekai, or is this a full gathering of strangers? It occurs to me partially because I feel like most people don’t go to an amusement park alone. Being that such a place is where we all quite tragically died (lel, technically perished in the hospital, but tomaytoe tomahtoe), I figure there’s good odds we might have some existing PC relationships. The potential is certainly there for the interested anyway. XD

@Lewascan2

I would prefer our group be friends before Isekai. Or at least know each other. I love preestablished relationships.

@Crimson Flame

I definitely like that!

But for my character, I think the extent other PCs would probably know her would be just as an acquaintance, because a certain character in her backstory has been isolating her from everyone else.

Also, the amusement park idea was inspired by the old D&D cartoon from the 80s XD.

@CaptainManbeard

I had a feeling that was the case! Right from the get go!

<Snipped quote by Lewascan2>

Hmmm... To give them a little bit of that "starter boost" you mentioned, I'm thinking maybe we rework the initial origin idea some. Hmmm... Maybe the day before our characters go to Six Flags, they are checking out a mysterious old antique shop and are drawn to the items that become their Soul Conduits. The old shopkeeper is like "interesting that you should choose these items in particular..." That night, they each have a dream of their Soul Conduits' previous owners first learning about their own abilities, though they initially forget this shortly after waking.

Later that day, they are at Six Flags and go on the roller coaster and get Isekai'd like previous discussed. While they are flying through the tunnel of lights, they each notice their Soul Conduit materialize next to them in transit. They crash down onto the beach outside a small fishing village and suddenly recall the dreams they all had the previous night, which gives them a slight bit of knowledge about their new abilities.

In this new origin idea, they start out with no idea how the items got to Earth, but they suspect the shopkeeper must have known more than he let on. Perhaps some of them believe the items marked them for death. With no idea where they are (beyond the information learned from the dreams), they head into the village and try to formulate some kind of plan what to do. Similar to the Wizard of Oz plot, perhaps there is some great wise sage a few towns over who is said to discern peoples' destinies. Perhaps they decide to head there first to see if they can learn more about their situation.

What do you think?

@CaptainManbeard

I think that is really interesting! I love it!

Might fuse the two to make it a coastal cave they arrive in that has been used for religious ceremonies by the villagers who live nearby. Maybe some random kid from the village is playing hookie from their studies and is hiding out in the cave when the Isekai characters arrive and the kids goes running to the village screaming lol.

@CaptainManbeard

Oh man, I can't stop laughing as I envision that opening scene. It will open right at their arrival to the cave, and then flash back to the antique store and over a few rounds of posts we can work our way back to the moment in the cave.

@CaptainManbeard

That is hilarious!!!

BTW, here is a good resource for stuff without the D&D Beyond paywall: http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/

I still need to devise the best way to facilitate growth for non-magic classes since we don't have stats or anything, but for the sake of the RP and story, it might be easier to just say all the characters have at least some magic potential. Like if someone plays a Fighter they could be more akin to a Spellsword or a Battlemage or something. On that site I linked there are spell lists for different classes, so we could just say each character uses one of those lists as a primary magical basis for their character and then also choose a secondary one. I'll link them individually below:

Artificer
Bard
Cleric
Druid
Paladin
Ranger
Sorcerer
Warlock
Wizard

But what do you guys think? And do you think we should keep track of individual spells or just say the characters have proficiency with different types of magic and Character Level just denotes how good they are at it? From a narrative standpoint, there could still be arcane runes and scripts for spells and incantations, but when writing the battle scenes out, we could just describe the magical effect being created rather than keeping track of individual spell names and such.

@CaptainManbeard

5eTools is a site I like to go to for my D&D references. XD

<Snipped quote by CaptainManbeard>

I don't know about everyone else, but for my own part, I was planning to keep track of individual spells. Not going as far as incantations for them, granted, but certainly keeping track of each individual spell Malcer is capable of and making specific mention ICly when he is researching a new spell before it gets used in a later battle or other scenario. And when it comes to proficiency, I'm planning to move Malcer's capacity in the various "Circles" of magic (1-9 and such) according to 5e access to those tiers. So, at level 3, he'll start breaking out the second tier magic, and at 5th level, 3rd tier and so on. When it actually comes to using the spells in practice, however, I'll probably only describe the effect occurring.

@Lewascan2

I was also thinking of keeping track of individual spells and basically have a full 5e sheet for my character, ready to help keep track and advise my posts for the game. ^_^

[Crimson Flame]

What’s the difference between wizards and sorcerers?

[deadpixel101]

A wizard is taught magic; reading books and training magic like a technical skill that uses their understanding of the theory around it.

A sorcerer is someone born with magic; somewhere in their bloodline a magical creature or person was involved. They control magic instinctively and are less learning more magic but the length of their natural capabilities.

From a gameplay point of view Wizards are intelligent and specialize in a type of magic.

Sorcerers are charismatic and can bend some rules based on their background; like getting to use some healing spells if your bloodline is touched by the celestial, or dealing extra lightning damage if it's a storm elemental. Things like that.

[CaptainManbeard]

I think the exact function differs depending on which source material is used, but generally speaking, Wizards have to read their spellbooks and store the written incantations in their mind for later use, and have to repeat this every day to keep the spells fresh in their minds. They have no natural inborn magical capability on their own and have to study for years in an academic setting to learn their craft.

A Sorcerer, on the other hand, does have some inborn magical capability, usually from a magical creature in their bloodline, like DeadPixel said. They do not have to memorize spells in the same way a Wizard does, instead drawing their power from within themselves.

It's sort of like the difference between having a mod installed in a video game or having to type out cheat codes to achieve the same effect. The player with the mod will have their stuff work automatically while the player with the cheat console will need to type out codes for each thing.

[CaptainManbeard]

To add to that, the player with the mod may be more limited in the scope of what they can do whereas the player with the cheat console has many more options depending on what codes they type. The trade off is ease of use versus depth of knowledge.

And to add to what I said about Wizards having no inborn magic, it's important to note that some races do have inborn abilities independent of their class, such as a Dragonborn's breath weapon, for example.

[Crimson Flame]

I’ll stick to Fairy Sorcerer then. A fairy is a magical creature, so I imagine they’d have inborn magic.

[Lewascan2]

I think the exact function differs depending on which source material is used, but generally speaking, Wizards have to read their spellbooks and store the written incantations in their mind for later use, and have to repeat this every day to keep the spells fresh in their minds. They have no natural inborn magical capability on their own and have to study for years in an academic setting to learn their craft.

@CaptainManbeard

More specifically, (5e) Wizards only need their spellbook to learn new spells, change their prepared/memorized spells, or recover a portion of their arcane energy while short resting. If they do lose their book, they still have all the spells they memorized beforehand locked in and can copy them into any new spellbook they create/acquire. Losing a spellbook is devastating, but not fatal. Even so, any half-decent Wizard creates a few backups or dozen down the line and shoves them in a good hidey-hole in case they need them.

[Lewascan2]

I can't believe it. WotC finally did it, and I only now noticed.
Necromancers now have an actually good 2nd Tier Necromancy offence spell.
Wither and Bloom: 10-ft radius AOE of 2d6 necrotic damage with a CON save for half damage.
And here's the real kicker: it lets you heal someone in that radius using their hit dice.
Actual healing, as a freaking wizard.
Add onto that a Necromancer's normal Grim Harvest trait for self-healing and that this spell is 2nd tier (and so much bang for your buck), and this is literally everything the Necromancer has been missing to make Grim Harvest actually consistently viable (especially at lower levels). Before this spell, either the options were too weak/too unlikely to proc the Grim Harvest with a kill, too uncommon/expensive (requiring higher tier spell slots), or just straight up not Necromancy-type spells, which is what you want to proc the highest return healing on a kill.

Now, you have a spell that even if it doesn't actually get a kill (which is still quite likely at the level it becomes available), you can drop on your own area to still heal you with the bonus effect. Not to mention that it's SELECTIVE AOE with absolutely zero friendly fire, which is actually pretty rare and can be useful for clearing out enemies that are clumped on your party.

Malcer is 100% going to have this spell.

[Lewascan2]

And don't even get me started on the fact that they dropped a 90ft teleportation spell at 2nd Tier too, one that you can use on yourself, allies or even forcibly on an enemy if they fail a CON save. Fucking Vortex Warp is such a huge Pandora's Box for that tier. The utility on this monstrosity...

Look, all I'm saying is: 9d6 potential Falling Damage + 3d6 for every spell slot of upcast.
Or more, depending on how much of an elevation you can drop the unlucky shmuck off.

Case closed.

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

And don't even get me started on the fact that they dropped a 90ft teleportation spell at 2nd Tier too, one that you can use on yourself, allies or even forcibly on an enemy if they fail a CON save. Fucking Vortex Warp is such a huge Pandora's Box for that tier. The utility on this monstrosity...

Look, all I'm saying is: 9d6 potential Falling Damage + 3d6 for every spell slot of upcast.
Or more, depending on how much of an elevation you can drop the unlucky shmuck off.

Case closed.

@Lewascan2

Right?! I have a War Wizard who has that spell. So far she’s used it for moving allies around for tactics and getting them out of trouble.

She’s used it on an enemy once and they made the save. ^^”

[Lewascan2]

<Snipped quote by Lewascan2>


Right?! I have a War Wizard who has that spell. So far she’s used it for moving allies around for tactics and getting them out of trouble.

She’s used it on an enemy once and they made the save. ^^”

@Guardian Angel Haruki

This is why the big brain move is to convince all your teammates to learn it too and then all spam it incessantly. :)
Probably a good idea to have Feather Fall prepared in case the DM returns the favor though, lol.

[Letter Bee]

Is there a minimum or maximum age for one's OC?

[CaptainManbeard]

Is there a minimum or maximum age for one's OC?

@Letter Bee

I don't think we've really discussed ages. What did you have in mind?

[Letter Bee]

<Snipped quote by Letter Bee>

I don't think we've really discussed ages. What did you have in mind?

@CaptainManbeard

Well, a high school.student killed before his time. 16 to 18, if allowed.

I could also make a more generic person.

Fair warning, btw: I do not like using IRL celebrity photos and very rarely use realistic art. Yes, I'm an unashamed Weeb/Anime Fan, which might be a deal-breaker.

[Lewascan2]

Malcer (pre-isekai) is probably someone in the low to mid twenties, early thirties at most. Bit of a dreamer, bit of a loner nerd. And tall as fuck. Like, this dude has basketball-player-worthy height but didn’t necessarily have the muscle to go with it (past-tense, since his new body is a living skeleton Reborn). Real tall, lanky guy whose clothes of choice are often baggy hoodies and jackets. Also a bit of a tabletop geek with escapist fantasies.

Oh yeah, and his voice is the kind of rich, honeyed baritone that sounds like Optimus Prime and Morgan Freeman had a baby.

[Lewascan2]

<Snipped quote by CaptainManbeard>

Well, a high school.student killed before his time. 16 to 18, if allowed.

I could also make a more generic person.

Fair warning, btw: I do not like using IRL celebrity photos and very rarely use realistic art. Yes, I'm an unashamed Weeb/Anime Fan, which might be a deal-breaker.

@Letter Bee

I highly doubt any of that will be a problem. Haven’t seen any faceclaim preferences. Pretty sure we’re good to go with whatever we want, especially since inhuman fantasy races are allowed. It’s a D&D-based isekai after all. :)

[Lewascan2]

I think as a general overall concept, I'm planning for Malcer to occupy this sort of Wizard/Cleric role. Where he's pretty much operating on full arcane magic, but some of it is functionally a healer's role because Necromancer. Like, he realizes arcane magic can actually heal ("What in Mythra's clenched sphincter?!"), and starts doing a whole lot more of that. Cause, a Necromancer's whole thing usually seems to be the pursuit of the continuation of (their own) life, so why can't that be twisted into a proper healer role?

Malcer: Magic Batman with bandaids.

[Lewascan2]

Character sheet when.

I kid, I kid. lol

Although, I might go ahead and throw something preliminary together that I can convert to whatever the preferred format is later.
I've already got a CS in D&D Beyond that I'm going to use as a basis for all the fun class stuff.

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

I can finally post again! XD

Character sheet when.

I kid, I kid. lol

Although, I might go ahead and throw something preliminary together that I can convert to whatever the preferred format is later.
I've already got a CS in D&D Beyond that I'm going to use as a basis for all the fun class stuff.

@Lewascan2

I'm going to get a D&D 5e CS for my character ready as well. XD

[Lewascan2]

I can finally post again! XD

<Snipped quote by Lewascan2>

I'm going to get a D&D 5e CS for my character ready as well. XD

@Guardian Angel Haruki

I considered using a D&D CS entirely, but the way things seem to be planned out, that structure wouldn't allow me to properly store custom spells without a lot of effort or "off-class" options that a forum CS will allow to be easily added.