Embedded Files
Source Materials:
We are using the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition core materials including:
- The Player's Handbook (PHB)
- The Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG)
- The Monster Manual (TMM)
- Xanathar's Guide to Everything (XGE)
A complete list of current classes and races, and the sourcebooks describing them as of late 2017, is available here. As a reminder, many of the class and race options produced by Wizards in the official sourcebooks are not allowed; only those described in the four books above are "legal" for this campaign.
Character Creation:
To adventure in Bastion, create a character using the process in the Player's Handbook (pg 11) and then follow these additional campaign-specific guidelines:
- Avoid powergaming or metagaming.
- Use the roll 4d6 drop 1 method for creating a one-time pool of ability scores to choose from for your character, as detailed in the Player's Handbook (Chapter 1, Section 3, on page 13):
- Roll four D6 dice, discard the lowest roll, and total the remaining three for the final stat number. Repeat this five more times to arrive at a pool of six core stat numbers to assign.
- For example: a player rolls four D6 that result in 2, 5, 6, and 4. The player drops the 2 and adds the remaining three, 5+6+4, to equal 15 for the stat.
- If at the end of creating the pool you are unsatisfied with the point distribution, you may instead fall back to the default Elite Array for generating a new Player Character with the following stats for Ability Scores: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, and 8.
- Using the pool (or the Elite Array) of six stat numbers, assign them to the respective stat as you see fit for each Ability Score (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma.)
- Roll four D6 dice, discard the lowest roll, and total the remaining three for the final stat number. Repeat this five more times to arrive at a pool of six core stat numbers to assign.
- Advance your character to level 5 when making a new character unless directed otherwise by a DM.
- If you are playing a spellcaster, please identify which spells they have available to them and make the list of prepared/known spells easily visible on your character sheet. Use whatever software, tokens, cards, or mnemonics you need so that you aren't thumbing through manuals every turn.
- You should develop a backstory that describes, at a minimum:
- Why your character chose/developed/found/inherited/got stuck with their player class
- Why your character wound up in/was dragged to/sacrificed to move to Bastion, and
- Why your character is pursuing the dangerous life of an adventurer.
We've also created a summarized list of steps for Character Creation here.
Class and Race Rules
These are the approved Races and Classes for our campaign sourced from the PHB, DMG, MM, and XGE. The full list of race/classes are available here but please choose only from ones available in the four source books. Generally, deviating from those listed are not allowed, but work with your DM if you have a particularly interesting idea you'd like to explore.
Races:
- Aasimar
- Dwarf
- Elf
- Halfling
- Human
- Dragonborn
- Gnome
- Half-Elf
- Half-Orc
- Tiefling
Note: The Aasimar race is in the DMG, Page 286.
Classes:
- Barbarian
- Bard
- Cleric
- Druid
- Fighter
- Monk
- Paladin
- Ranger
- Rogue
- Sorcerer
- Warlock
- Wizard
Deities:
As Bastion and the surrounding wilds are a relatively new land, there isn't a notable prevailing faith. But there are also many other obscure sects and even undiscovered gods that you may happen upon in your travels. Any deity listed in the core rulebooks is permitted, as are non-deity sources of divine magic.
If you want to create a deity for your character to worship, run it by a DM. This choice is almost entirely for flavor; there are no restrictions on domain choice so long as the domain is from the approved sources. See the PHB, Appendix B for a lot more detail and inspiration.
Use this table for a quick list of mainstream deities that most common folk readily know of:
Firearms:
The Dungeon Master's Guide also includes the rules for using sidearms on pages 267-268; the Westlands universe has Renaissance-level firearms and explosives for those who spend a feat to learn proficiency with them. They are the weapons of choice for those who don't have extensive training in more martial arts; a skilled archer can usually do more damage than even an expert musketman, but musketmen are comparatively easy to train and equip for the kinds of massed combat now beginning to develop in the Old World. Similarly, it's often less bothersome to have a wizard blow something up rather than keep gunpowder dry, except in specific, niche instances. No PC character classes are built explicitly around firearms, so work with a DM while building your character if you want to incorporate this technology into your playstyle.
Alignment
Volumes have been written and discussed, and there are thousands of alignment charts on the internet that testify to how intricate a topic character alignment in Dungeons and Dragons (or any fantasy setting for that matter) can be. Simply put, alignment is the summary world-view of your character and dictates how they approach every situation. The easiest way to think about Alignment is a mixture of two qualities: Good v. Evil and Lawful v. Chaos where Good v. Evil corresponds to how selfless a character is while Lawful v. Chaos corresponds to their willingness to break the rules. In the middle ground between all four qualities is Neutral, where a character doesn't particularly fall on either side of the axes.
This framework leads to a possible nine types of alignment:
Lawful Good (LG):
- A lawful good character typically acts with compassion and always with honor and a sense of duty. Such characters include righteous knights, paladins, and most dwarves. Lawful good creatures include the noble golden dragons. They typically try to do right within boundaries of the rule of law.
Neutral Good (NG):
- A neutral good character typically acts altruistically, without regard for or against lawful precepts such as rules or tradition. A neutral good character has no problems with cooperating with lawful officials, but does not feel beholden to them. In the event that doing the right thing requires the bending or breaking of rules, they do not suffer the same inner conflict that a lawful good character would.
Chaotic Good (CG):
- A chaotic good character does what is necessary to bring about change for the better, disdains bureaucratic organizations that get in the way of social improvement, and places a high value on personal freedom, not only for oneself, but for others as well. Chaotic good characters usually intend to do the right thing, but their methods are generally disorganized and often out of sync with the rest of society. Oftentimes they have no qualms breaking the rules if it promotes the greater good.
- Think of it as "a means to an end" (for good.)
Lawful Neutral (LN):
- A lawful neutral character typically believes strongly in lawful concepts such as honor, order, rules, and tradition, and often follows a personal code. Examples of lawful neutral characters include a soldier who always follows orders, a judge or enforcer that adheres mercilessly to the word of the law, and a disciplined monk.
True Neutral (N):
- A neutral character (a.k.a. true neutral) is neutral on both axes and tends not to feel strongly towards any alignment, or actively seeks their balance. Druids frequently follow this dedication to balance. Examples of true neutral characters include a druid who might fight against a band of marauding gnolls, only to switch sides to save the gnolls' clan from being totally exterminated.
- Most animals are originally considered true neutral, because they lack the capacity for moral judgment, guided by instinct rather than conscious decision.
Chaotic Neutral (CN):
- A chaotic neutral character is an individualist who follows their own heart and generally shirks rules and traditions. Although chaotic neutral characters promote the ideals of freedom, it is their own freedom that comes first; good and evil come second to their need to be free.
Lawful Evil (LE):
- A lawful evil character sees a well-ordered system as being easier to exploit and shows a combination of desirable and undesirable traits. Examples of this alignment include tyrants, devils, and undiscriminating mercenary types who have a strict code of conduct.
Neutral Evil (NE):
- A neutral evil character is typically selfish and has no qualms about turning on allies-of-the-moment, and usually makes allies primarily to further their own goals. A neutral evil character has no compunctions about harming others to get what they want, but neither will they go out of their way to cause carnage or mayhem when they see no direct benefit for themselves. Another valid interpretation of neutral evil holds up evil as an ideal, doing evil for evil's sake and trying to spread its influence. Examples of the first type are an assassin who has little regard for formal laws but does not needlessly kill, a henchman who plots behind their superior's back, or a mercenary who switches sides if made a better offer. An example of the second type would be a masked killer who strikes only for the sake of causing fear and distrust in the community.
Chaotic Evil (CE):
- A chaotic evil character tends to have no respect for rules, other people's lives, or anything but their own desires, which are typically selfish and cruel. They set a high value on personal freedom, but do not have much regard for the lives or freedom of other people. Chaotic evil characters do not work well in groups because they resent being given orders and do not usually behave themselves unless there is no alternative.
- Think of it as "a means to an end" (for evil.)
Decent examples of alignment charts:
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