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Introduction:

The purpose of this document is to clarify and introduce the various 3rd Edition rules and house rules that need to be introduced to the Therran Campaign. The reason for these rules, for the most part, is to maintain the flavour and internal consistency of the game world in question.

Races:

All normal races are available in Therra. This means in the West there are humans, half elves, halflings, elves, dwarves, gnomes, and half orcs. In the East there are humans, hengeyoki, korobukaru, spirit folk, nezumi, and vanarans. Certain special races, like tieflings, are allowed with DM approval.

All races are as stated in the Players' Handbook with the exception of elves. Elves' favoured class is considered to be Sorcerer instead of Wizard (refer to the Classes section below).

Humans, half elves, and spirit folk are not assumed to automatically have their highest level as their favoured class. Instead, they must choose a favoured class at the start of the game and that choice is set for the rest of that character's career. The reasoning behind this change was to allow characters to have a class that may be dormant awaiting a later character development or one that reflects the character's heritage, but without causing the character to suffer an experience penalty. This was also necessary due to class advancement restrictions (see Advancement section below).

Hengeyoki, seeing as they get a +1 to their ECL, have to earn twice the XP to advance to 2nd level.

Classes:

Character classes are as listed in the Player's Handbook and Oriental Adventures. Sorcerers are a special case. In Therra, Sorcerers are those persons with natural magic in their blood. This arises in various ways in Therra, but the most common are elven blood in the West and spirit folk blood in the East. As such, only those with strong elven or spirit folk blood may become sorcerers. This means, for all intents and purposes, PC sorcerers are limited to elves, half elves, and spirit folk. This does not mean that in order to play a sorcerer one of your parents had to be an elf. It is not unheard of for ancestral elven lineage (or Spirit lineage) centuries before resurfacing and running strong in a scion. However, that same strong blood that allows sorcery would also manifest in pointy ears and infravision and everything normally associated with a half elf. In other words, that type of character would be a half elf. What half elf means in Therra, then, is either a person with one elf and one human parent, or a human in whose veins the blood of long ago elvish ancestors runs strong. For rule purposes, they are one and the same. Tieflings can also become sorcerers, reflecting their tainted bloodline.

Sorcery also manifests in other creatures that are naturally magic. Dragons, faeries, etc mostly use sorcery over wizardry.

Some specific words on classes:

Barbarians - This is a heritage class, meaning it derives from the heritage of the character. As such, barbarians can only come FROM barbaric lands.

Wizards - Wizards are rare in Therra, and usually respected and also feared by most non-wizards. Nonetheless, wizardry is generally not forbidden or outlawed in most of Therra. Wizardry involves years of study to assume the mantle of even a first level wizard. Most wizards apprentice at age 13 and gain their first level at age 20-25.

Sorcerers - Sorcerers represent those with elven or spirit blood. Sorcerers cast spells by drawing upon their innate magical natures and shaping them to their desires. Only elves, half elves, tieflings, and spirit folk may be sorcerers.

Bards - Bards are treated as written, and even find a place in lands hostile to magery, such as amongst the Thaneeri barbarians. Bardic magic is more regarded as trickery and sleight of hand or as manifesting the potent power of music than it is considered arcane magic.

Thieves - Thieves are generally treated as written. Thief Guilds exist in civilized Therra, but thieves can also serve as Tomb Raiders, Scouts, Mercenaries, etc.

Fighters - Fighters are treated as written.

Rangers - Rangers encompass a wide variety of roles, from a simple fighter who is comfortable in the wilderness, to beastmasters, to scouts and trackers, to bounty hunters, to wilderness enforcers, to huntsmen and furriers.

Clerics - The gods of Therra are worshipped similarly to 2nd Edition Therra. A listing of new domains will be provided. Priests will choose domains from the ones listed as normal 3rd Edition rules.

The Morakki do not generally worship most of the gods of Therra, though they acknowledge their existence. Rather, they worship the four beings of the elements, gods that they say were at one time a greater creative force called Tul that split into the four elements during the creation of the world. The concept of Tul is so integrated into Morakki philosophy that they do not have clerics and wizards, but rather Shugenja and Wu-Jen that are both tied to the four elements.

Mordants still exist in Therra, and they have access to all domain spells and powers. However, they may not use them in total more than a normal cleric of their level. In addition, because of the widespread prejudice against Mordants, they receive a -2 to their CHA when using CHA-based skills upon non-Mordanti.

Druids - After the Great War, the druids lost their driving sense of purpose and went through a bit of a crisis of conscience, since it was proven that their method for defeating the Deceiver was either wrong or not the only way to do so. As such, a great many druids lost faith or exiled themselves to a life of hermitage in the wilderness. However, some retained their connection to nature and decided to remain as stewards and protectors of the lands. Others maintain that without careful tending of the land, an even greater evil will arise. It is true, however, that druids became less aloof and non-druids became more accepting of them as a result.

Paladins - Paladins serve and revere Meredros and are as written.

Monks - Monks are a Morakki class. However, in recent years a Morakki master, guided by a vision, sojourned to a peak high in the Aynayjor Mountains and, for a price unknown, induced the dwarves there to build him a fortified monastery. There he founded a new order of monks and called for Westerners to come and learn the ways of ascetic existence. Even now, fully trained and initiated Western monks are beginning to filter into the Western lands.

In Morakki lands, monkish orders of all sorts are scattered throughout, ranging from contemplative orders to military orders.

Samurai - Samurai are native to Vingariku Island, though certain other Morakki nations have dedicated feudal warrior orders that are comparable. Samurai must serve a master or they become ronin.

Shugenja - These wandering priests are common throughout Morakki lands and operate as written. The schools are as presented in Oriental Adventures, but are not tied to the Rokugan clans listed therein.

Sohei - The paladins of the Morakki lands are as written.

Shamans - These spirit worshippers operate as written.

Wu-Jen - Wu-Jen are the Morakki equivalent of Wizards. The Morakki do not have the art of wizardry per se, instead they practice Wu-Jen, the art of channeling the elements.

Races and Classes:

Although no race is restricted from any given class, with the exception of Sorcerers (who must be elvish, half-elvish, or spirit folk), theoretically, any race can be any class.

That said, some classes and races just don't work well and won't be allowed.

Almost all barbarians are humans, korobukaru, or half-orcs. Barbarianism is a result of heritage and upbringing and the chances that a gnome or halfling or elf was brought up under those conditions is extraordinarily unique and frankly too ridiculous to contemplate.

Similarly, I'd prefer to avoid visions of Yoda from Attack of the Clones from playing halfling monks and the like.

Other race/class combinations are allowed, but there is intense social pressure against them. I am doing this in order to maintain much of the flavour of 2nd Edition and the way I designed the races to conform to that vision.

Thus, while technically a dwarf could be a wizard, dwarves as a society dislike and distrust wizardry, and any dwarf practicing it is likely to be outcast or reacted to with hostility by other dwarves.

A good guideline is as follows (only the non-Morakki races and classes have been presented):

Humans - any class but sorcerer

Elves - no barbarians, rarely monks

Half Elves - same as humans

Halflings - no sorcerers, no barbarians, no monks, very rarely wizards

Gnomes - no sorcerers, no barbarians, usually illusionist specialists if a wizard

Half-orcs - any class but sorcerer

Dwarves - no barbarians, no monks, extraordinarily rarely wizards

Prestige Classes:

I am not a big fan of many prestige classes, for several reasons. First, because I believe there is enough flexibility and variety in the choice of skills and feats (especially with all of the added skills and feats from the supplemental sourcebooks) that there is no reason to heap prestige classes on top of that.

Second, there are just too many prestige classes. Every time you turn around another ten prestige classes have been issued. It's out of control.

Third, too many of the prestige classes are unbalanced and/or just plain silly, attempting to do with abilities and feats and powers what should be accomplished by way of simply applying the basic character classes in a certain direction. In other words, do we really need a Tomb Raider prestige class when a Thief who takes the proper skills and feats can accomplish the job anyways?

Mnay prestige classes do not exist in Therra. Most are relegated to specific geographical areas or cultures. A good many more simply don't fit into the current campaign for players and are reserved for NPCs. Nevertheless, there is a decent list of prestige classes available to PCs.

That said, I am using the feats, skills, and spells from the various class supplemental sourcebooks.

Advancement:

This is going to be a big deal in the campaign. I do not like the thought of people gaining a level and "pop" this or that happens. The 3rd Edition books, to their credit, recognize this problem and offer optional rules to mitigate this "pop" effect.

Multi-Classing:

Multi-Classing is, of course, allowed and welcomed, but at all times it MUST make sense. By "make sense" I mean that there needs to be an in-character reason for it (beyond "ooh I want to get the neat powers of this class!") AND there must be the means to accomplish it.

For some classes, it is easy to start up. Becoming a fighter or thief is relatively easy. They are simply a matter of putting one's mind to a task and practicing. Other classes, however, become more difficult:

Barbarians - This is a heritage class, meaning you can't just "become" a barbarian. Generally you are born to it, and this means few people are going to be allowed to pick up a first level in barbarian after the campaign has started. It is possible to pick up the barbarian class, but it would require living in barbaric lands amongst other barbarians for a length of time. How long? Depends. But, for example, if a thief were taken captive by a barbarian tribe, held as a slave for a month, then made a warrior and served for 6 months before leaving those lands, he could qualify to gain barbarian-hood.

Sorcerers - This is a heritage class as well, and unlike barbarian, is a matter of genetics rather than upbringing, so only an elf or half elf or tiefling or spirit folk may become a sorcerer. However, because, in those races, it is a natural ability, it doesn't require intensive training and so is easy to add to those characters.

Wizards - As already mentioned under Classes, becoming a wizard requires years of tutelage. Even assuming you bypass the demeaning apprentice stage, it would take at least 5 years to become a first level wizard.

Clerics - Similar to wizards, clerics generally first serve years as a lay member of a temple and then are initiated and serve any number of years before finally becoming ordained. During their time as initiates they have to learn the faith, attend seminary, and prove their true devotion to their deity.

Druids - Like priests, it takes years of devotion and initiation to become a member of a druidic order. In addition, since the Sundering (i.e. after the Great War) druids are no longer of a single monolithic order and, as such, someone wishing to become a druid would have to serve a specific locale under a specific master.

Paladins - Paladins go through an ordeal somewhat like Clerics, but to a lesser extent. In theory, a lawful good fighter or cleric who proved his worth in battle and has a history of good and right conduct could petition for Paladinhood. He would have to undergo a quest of some sort and a duration of self-abasement and ritual purification, but after several months could emerge as a Paladin.

Monks - Becoming a monk involves learning various techniques, both physical and mental. This is usually done over years at a monastery. However, it is possible for an accomplished monk to teach a novice the rudiments of monk training enough to qualify the novice as a first level monk.

Bards - Fairly easy to become a bard. Practice with instruments, learn a few tricks from other bards, and voila!

Rangers, Fighters and Thieves are all easy to become. You just have to practice a bit.

Wu-Jen - same as wizards

Samurai - Generally a heritage class, reserved for the nobility. However, a very worthy warrior who proved himself in battle and loyalty to a liege could be made a Samurai, but this would require events to occur in game.

Shugenja - same as clerics

Shaman - same as barbarians

Sohei - same as paladins

Starting Off:

Because the above rulings make it sometimes difficult to pick up a new class, I am allowing players to start as 0 level multiclassed characters. This will allow someone who wants to play a thief primary but a wizard secondary to basically have gotten the 5-10 years of training out of the way in pre-history and he can then pick up levels of wizard as he desires. Refer to the 3.0 DMG for details.

Also, because of the restrictive nature of these rules, and because it may be that someone wants to take a level of a restricted class at first and then multi-class levels of the easier-to-pick-up stuff later on, I have modified the favoured class rule for humans and half elves (and spirit folk). Normally, even as a human, having that first level would activate an XP penalty once the character took two more classes and got to higher levels in them. However, I am allowing humans, half-elves and spirit folk to choose any class as a favoured class and it stays that way even if another class goes higher. In essence, it's not really a favoured class so much as the one you were raised as.

You must choose a favoured class at the start of the campaign and it must be one that you currently possess.

Advancing Levels:

You can only take levels in a class if it makes sense. What does this mean? If you spend an entire level running urban adventures you cannot choose to take that level in Barbarian or Druid. Makes no sense. You have to have put into practice the modus operandi of the class in question somewhat significantly during the level gained to advance in it.

If you play an entire level and, for some reason, cast no spells and use no magic devices, you will not be allowed to advance as a wizard.

You cannot save levels. Once you have the XP you have to gain the level.

Advancing Feats and Skills:

Similar to levels, you can only gain a feat or skill if you have a chance to use the skill or be taught it. The Player's Handbook gives a good example of this. You cannot get a rank in Sailing if you spent the entire level in a desert.

Telegraphing Advances:

In general, and this is again from the Player's Handbook and DMG, you should telegraph a level in advance what your character is working on. If you telegraph and role-play it well in advance, you are much more likely to be allowed to take the advancement when you gain the XP to level.

Example:

Teysha has just become a 7th level fighter. The player decides that for level 8, she'd like to become a 1st level monk. In addition, she wants to earn the Improved Critical feat and put 4 ranks in her observation skill when she hits 8th level.

First, Teysha goes to the party's monk, Wastri, and tells him that she admires his fighting style and the grace of his movements and his inner calm. She has been thinking that perhaps his ways could benefit her as a warrior and as a person. Wastri considers this for a moment and then tells Teysha that he will teach her some things but that first she must learn humility and obedience, and so must serve as his steward for a month and a day, obeying him unquestioningly in all things. Teysha considers a moment and then agrees. For a month and a day Wastri has her clean the camp site, wash his cloths, cook his meals, etc. and even tries her patience by spitting out her hard-prepared meals and calling it garbage. She is ordered to dig holes in the middle of the night and then fill them up. She carries water on a yoke five miles uphill just to wash his feet. But she does so without complaint. After a month and a day of this, Wastri congratulates her and offers to teach her.

Every day at dawn, and after supper, the two go off to the side and practice. At first it is breathing exercises and yoga positions, but eventually the two practice hand and foot movements, muscle control, and finally spar with hands, feet, and weapons.

Meanwhile, Teysha is also paying close attention to Wastri's lectures on pressure points, nerve bundles, and killing points and is applying this knowledge not only to her monk training but to her warrior skills, learning how better to cause critical damage to foes. She rigs a wooden dummy or paints marks on trees and practices swinging with her sword, hitting the small marks dead on every time for hours at a time.

Finally, Teysha offers to take point as the party travels, wanting to learn better how to observe the world around her and how to spot things of concern. Perhaps she walks point with the party's ranger, who is a master of observation, and he gives her pointers, pointing out tracks of animals, the sudden unnatural alighting of a nearby bird, and how the crickets change frequency when a predator is near.

By the time Teysha has earned her next level, she has more than earned the right to take a monk level, the improved critical feat, and multiple ranks of observation skill.

Magic Items:

Magic in Therra is rare, and I intend to keep it at about the same level as in 2nd Edition. This means potions, wands, scrolls, and other one-use items are relatively common while permanent items are relatively rare.

That said, almost all magic items require exotic components. A first level wizard with the Craft Scroll feat cannot spend a few XP and gold and scribe 25 1st level sleep scrolls. It requires the proper inks, pens, etc. which may or may not be readily available.

As usual, the general philosophy is that I'd rather the players find and win their magic than make it themselves. Nonetheless, since this campaign is likely to be less hectic and more sedentary than the previous one, characters are more than welcome to actually pursue making magic items. Gaining the exotic components not only limits the items, it makes for neat adventures!

Psionics:

Psionics exist in Therra, but is generally reserved for monsters. The psionic character classes from the Psionics Handbook generally are not available to PCs or normal NPCs.

Experience Points:

I will generally be cutting XP awards in half. I will be using the options for role-playing bonuses, story awards, etc. as per the DMG, but the end result will be it will take twice as long, or 26.66 encounters of equal challenge rating to advance a level. As it stands, this seems to have people levlling up once every 4-5 sessions.

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