Starting Level: 5.
Characters count as level 6 for encounter building.

Seeing that this will be played over IRC, expect that the game will be mostly noncombat in nature, however, to prevent abuse, I will be strongly requesting that you all pick a combat-based level 2 utility power.

Ability Scores: 18/18/12/12/12/12, after level 4 bonuses, but before racial bonuses.

Setting: Dark Sun.

Themes: Pick a Dark Sun theme. Noble Adept does not give you 1 free power point. Escaped Slave does not give you free Bluff training.

Divine Classes: You can be of a divine class. You can reflavor it into any power source you want, but for all rules purposes, you are still a member of a divine class.
Races: You can be of any race, except for those without PC write-ups (bladeling, bugbear, bullywug, duergar, githyanki, goblin, hobgoblin, kenku, kobold, orc). Just be sure to reflavor.

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Expertise: You gain a +1 feat bonus to attack rolls with implement and weapon powers. In addition, you cannot benefit from any feat bonus to attack rolls from a feat with "Expertise" in its name.
Level 15: +2 feat bonus.
Level 25: +3 feat bonus.

Focus: You gain a +1 feat bonus to damage rolls with implement and weapon powers.
Level 11: +2 feat bonus.
Level 21: +3 feat bonus.

Training (does not apply to hunters, knights, scouts, slayers, thieves): When you use the Melee Basic Attack (Rules Compendium, p239), Ranged Basic Attack (Rules Compendium, p239), Bull Rush (Rules Compendium, p239), or Grab (Rules Compendium, p243) power, you can use your highest ability score for the attack roll and the damage roll, you gain a +2 enhancement bonus to the attack roll and the damage roll, and a +2 item bonus to the damage roll. If you score a critical hit and deal damage, you deal +2d12 magic item extra critical damage dice. If you use a magic weapon for the attack, you can instead that item's enhancement bonus to attack rolls, its magic item critical line, or both.
Level 11: +3 enhancement bonus to the attack roll and the damage roll, +3 item bonus to the damage roll, +3d12 magic item extra critical damage dice.
Level 16: +4 enhancement bonus to the attack roll and the damage roll, +4 item bonus to the damage roll, +4d12 magic item extra critical damage dice.
Level 21: +5 enhancement bonus to the attack roll and the damage roll, +5 item bonus to the damage roll, +5d12 magic item extra critical damage dice.
Level 26: +6 enhancement bonus to the attack roll and the damage roll, +6 item bonus to the damage roll, +6d12 magic item extra critical damage dice.

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Endurance Training: You gain training in Endurance and an additional skill of your choice for free.  Clerics, druids, and shamans get Perception as an additional one on top of that.

Class Skills: Class skills are abolished, including forced skill training; forced skill trainings become additional skill training choices. However, Perception can be chosen as a starting trained skill only if your class originally offers it as a class skill.

Half-Training: Racial skill bonuses and the human race's bonus trained skill are both abolished. Instead, choose four skills that you lack training in. You gain half-training in those skills, granting you a +2 bonus to skill checks made using those skills. If you gain training in a skill you have half-training in, you can reassign the half-training.

History: Immortal creature knowledge and the occasional lore regarding actual religions call for a History check, not a Religion check.

Religion: Unlike most campaigns, the Religion skill will be of extremely limited use in this game. As such, the Religion skill is abolished. All feats and paragon paths that require training in Religion no longer require such, and Religion skill powers can be taken by any character.

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Domination: If a dominated creature is targeted by an opportunity attack or an attack made as part of an opportunity action, after the attack is resolved, the creature is no longer dominated.

Escaping From Grabs: Your bonuses for the escape action equals your Fortitude defense - 10 and your Reflex defense - 10, rather than your Athletics and Acrobatics skills. If you use your Fortitude defense - 10, you must meet or exceed the grabbing enemy's Fortitude defense. If you use your Reflex defense - 10, you must meet or exceed the grabbing enemy's Reflex defense.

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AC: If you are proficient with leather armor, you gain a +2 feat bonus to AC while wearing no armor or cloth armor. If you are proficient with hide armor, you gain a +3 feat bonus to AC while wearing no armor or cloth armor.

Dexterity/Intelligence: You can use the lower of your Dexterity modifier or your Intelligence modifier in place of your Wisdom modifier or your Charisma modifier when determining your Will defense.

Wisdom/Charisma: You can use the lower of your Wisdom modifier or your Charisma modifier in place of your Strength modifier or your Constitution modifier when determining your Fortitude defense, and in place of your Dexterity or Intelligence modifier when determining your AC when not in heavy armor.

Defense Points: Your class no longer grants you a bonus to non-AC defenses. For example, if you are a warlord, you do not gain +1 Fortitude and +1 Will. Instead, you have a pool of defense points; each point invested in a defense grants you a +1 bonus to that defense. Assassins, avengers, clerics, invokers, monks, paladins, psions, runepriests, and swordmages gain 3 defense points; characters of any other classes, including hybrid characters, receive only 2 defense points. During character creation, you must invest all defense points in your lowest non-AC defense. For example, if you are a Strength/Intelligence-based warlord, you must invest your 2 defense points into Will for a +2 bonus to Will; if you are a Strength/Wisdom-based paladin with a heavy shield, you must invest your 3 defense points into Reflex for a +3 bonus to Reflex, which might increase your Reflex to higher than your Fortitude and Will.

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Magic Item Daily Powers: Magic item daily power usage is abolished, as per errata. However, during any given workday, you can use only one magic item daily power for each of the following categories: armor, weapon, implement, arms, feet, hands, head, waist. For magic item daily powers of items that fall outside of these categories, such as wondrous items, you can only use the magic item daily power of any specific magic item only once per workday.

Mastered Rituals: Once you have mastered a ritual, you forevermore know that ritual and can cast it without the use of a spellshard or a ritual book.

Religions: For the purpose of selecting divine mechanical options, you are considered to worship all deities and all religions across all settings. For example, you could both wield a Cog of Erathis holy symbol, which requires you to worship Erathis, and take the Power of Love heroic feat, which requires you to worship a deity with the Love domain.

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Mundane Equipment: You begin with as much mundane equipment as you desire, within reason, and ten survival days. Skill check-boosting mundane equipment, such as footpads (+1 item bonus to stealth), are highly recommended. None of this can be metal.

Weapons: All characters gain proficiency with all simple and military weapons.

Armor Penalties: No armor or shield gives you a penalty to Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, Stealth, or Thievery checks.

Loose Change: You have 5,000 gp to spend on purchasing magic items, mastering rituals, and mastering martial practices. You cannot purchase consumable items or alternative rewards with this 5,000 gp. None of this can be level 6 or higher, and none of this can be metal. Oh, and lest I forget, you get a Handy Haversack (Level 10) for free.

Item Revision:
Siberys Shard of the Mage, Level 3/13/18/23/28
This dichromatic dragonshard crystal enhances magical attacks of all sorts.
Dragonshard Augment (Implement or Weapon)
Property: This dragonshard augment can be outfitted into a holy symbol, a ki focus, an orb, a rod, a staff, a tome, a totem, a wand, a weapon, or a wondrous item implement.
Property: You gain a +1 bonus to damage rolls with implement powers and weapon powers made using the augmented item. If this dragonshard augment is outfitted into a ki focus, it also confers the bonus to all weapon powers made using the ki focus's enhancement bonus and properties.
Level 13: +3 bonus.
Level 18: +4 bonus.
Level 23: +5 bonus.
Level 28: +6 bonus.

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Feat Revision:
Superior Implement Training, Heroic Feat
Benefit: Choose one of the following benefits.
✦ You gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls with implement powers.
✦ When you use an area implement power or a ranged implement power, increase the power's range by 3. When you use a close implement power with a "Target" entry of "one creature in burst," increase the size of the burst by 3. You also gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with implement powers. This bonus increases to +3 at 11th level and to +4 at 21st level.

Power Revision:
Lance of Faith, Cleric Attack 1
At-Will ✦ Divine, Force, Implement, Radiant
Standard Action, Melee touch or Ranged 40
Target: One creature
Attack: Wisdom vs. AC. If the target is within 20 squares of you, you gain a +2 bonus to the attack roll.
Hit: 1d10 + Wisdom modifier force and radiant damage. If the target is within 20 squares of you and you did not use this power as a basic attack, it also takes a -2 penalty to all defenses until the end of your next turn.
Level 21: 2d10 + Wisdom modifier force and radiant damage.
Effect: You can use this power as a basic attack.

Class Feature Rules Call:
An ardent's Mantle doesn't stack with any racial bonuses to skill checks, like the bonuses from Group Diplomacy and Group Awareness.

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Ban List:

Dragonmarks: ALL DRAGONMARKS ARE BANNED, WITH TWO EXCEPTIONS. This is non-negotiable.
Mark of Healing can be taken by clerics, druids, and shamans. Multiclassing does not count, but being a hybrid does.
Mark of Warding can be taken by swordmages and wardens. Multiclassing does not count, but being a hybrid does.
Begging me for a revision on this stance will make me throw you a boot to the head. A steel-toed, lead-filled boot.

Backgrounds: All background benefits are banned. This is non-negotiable.

Powers, Abusable: Queen's Clemency (bard at-will utility 22), Brutal Barrage (battlemind at-will attack 13), Platinum Scales (sorcerer daily utility 22), Ethereal Sidestep (warlock at-will utility 10), Stall Tactics (Bluff daily utility 10), Insightful Comment (Insight encounter utility 10), Insightful Riposte (Insight encounter utility 16).

Powers, Abusable, Fighter: Glowering Threat (fighter encounter utility 2), Rain of Blows (fighter encounter attack 3), Rain of Steel (fighter daily attack 5), Anvil of Doom (fighter encounter attack 13), Unyielding Avalanche (fighter daily attack 15), Prescient Shield (fighter daily utility 22), Reaper's Stance (fighter daily attack 25), Cruel Reaper (fighter encounter attack 27), Force the Battle (fighter daily attack 29).

Paragon Paths, Abusable: Divine Oracle, Half-Elf Polymath, Kensei, Life Singer.

Feats, Abusable: Agile Opportunist, Clarified Instincts, Cleaving Axe, Crushing Doom, Dual Implement Spellcaster, Elated Emotions, Empty Mind, Enlarge Spell, Great Fortitude, Harlequin Style, Headsman's Chop, Indiscriminate Wrath, Iron Will, Lasting Frost, Lightning Reflexes, Martial Cross-Training, Primal Summoning Expertise, Prime Punisher, Radiant Advantage, Rapid Regeneration, Repel Charge, Spiked Chain Training, Starfire Womb, Superior Fortitude, Superior Reflexes, Superior Will, Two-Blade Warrior, Twofold Pact.

Feats, Abusable, Racial: Ancient Soul, Death Scorned, Death's Quickening, Dispater's Iron Discipline, Draconic Arrogance, Dwarf Stoneblood, Dwarven Durability, Eerie Resurgence, Elemental Empowerment, Ferocious Critical, Fierce Vitality, Ghostly Vitality, Glasya's Charming Words, Group Defense, Healing Fragments, Hellfire Teleport, Plaguing Bloodhunt, Psychic Corruption of Malbolge, Quori Backlash, Stonefoot Reprisal, Unnatural Mantle.

Feats, Abusable, Fighter: Arena Battle Rhythm, Deft Hurler Style, Hindering Shield, Marked Scourge, Overwhelming Impact, Slashing Storm, Polearm Momentum, Rending Tempest, Ubiquitous Shield, Wary Fighter.

Feats, Abusable, Ranger: Called Shot, Improved Prime Shot, Prime Quarry, Slashing Storm, Rending Tempest, True Arrow Style.

Feats, Abusable, Skill Substitution: Autohypnosis, Sorcerous Vision.

Magic Items, Abusable, Charging: Avalanche Hammer, Battle Spirit Weapon, Thundergod Weapon, Tigerclaw Gauntlets, Unbroken Lance, Vanguard Weapon, Orb of Mental Constitution.

Magic Items, Abusable, Long Distance: Blade of the Eldritch Knight, Crashing Weapon, Dwarven Thrower, Farbond Spellblade, Farslayer Weapon, Hungry Spear.

Magic Items, Abusable, Power Recharging: Battlemaster's Weapon, Blood Obsidian Weapon, Orb of Invasive Fortune, Power Jewel, Salve of Power.

Magic Items, Skill Substitution: Bracers of Mental Might, Nimble Shoes.