Fall of Man chargen

The Fall of Man

The Races

The elves, the first of the intelligent races, treated the humans with disdain, as they did all the other races.  But the elves kept to themselves for the most part, so they did not really have conflict with the others.  A small faction of the elves, often seen as somehow broken by the majority of elves, actually enjoy cavorting with the other races, usually in an artistic or intellectual capacity.

The elven homeland, Dalinor, is on a series of large plains with various natural features dividing the plains.  The elves, believing that one should dedicate themselves to excellence, build each of their cities dedicated to perfection to one of their higher arts, whether that should be the actual arts, combat, intellectual pursuits, or whatever else could gain enough devotees to merit the construction of a town.


The Isyl, the second of the intelligent races, is belived to have been created to care for the planet since the elves seem concerned for little but themselves and their own well being.  The Isyl are not truly one race, but a multitude of small races that all serve various functions in the service of nature.  These races, obviously, have vastly different forms and functions, whether that be more beast-like, more plant-like, or just unusually tall and strong.

The Isyl do not have a homeland, instead being spread out across the land, tending to it as needed.  They do tend to create communities in areas with an unusually high amount of crystal growth, which they harvest slowly and carefully to trade with other civilizations for goods and services.  The crystals have various properties, depending on color and brightness, making them valuable.  The other races have tried to figure out how to harvest them properly, but those crystals lose their sheen within a month.


The dwarves, the third of the intelligent races, were created to try and create a bond between the other races that didn't get along well.  The dwarves, despite their stature, were unusually clever and affiable, so they could easily turn unhappy or aggressive individuals into more compliant people.  The dwarven homeland, despite being the smallest of the homelands for the races, easily has the most wealth, even if the elves would never admit that, due to the fact that the dwarves also travel around the most as merchants, bringing in great wealth to their cities.  Eventually, the dwarves, with their wealth, moved out of the caves of their ancestors out to the surface around their great mountains, to aid in the exchange of goods and to display their wealth to the world.


The humans, the fourth intelligent race, were created long after the other three to inspire inginuity and inspiration.  The world had grown stagnant with the triad of powers, and thus the humans were created to keep society evolving.  To this end, the humans did not have a homeland initially, instead infiltrating into every other society, although to a lesser degree in Dalinor than the rest of the land.  And they did begin to spur growth in the land, even if they did butt heads with various powerful individuals every now and again.

This new change did not last for long, though.  A plague began to sweep throughout the lands of Dalinor.  A plague that killed a great many elves, and the elves blamed the humans for inflicting it on them.  The elves began to hunt down the humans to put a stop to the plague from outside forces.  The humans, for the first time, founded their own cities and kingdoms to protect themselves from the elves, especially since more than a few cities kicked them out, lest the elves that were masters of war descend on their cities.

The elves, though, destroyed many of these cities and nations and are trying to exterminate all of humankind.  Thus we find ourselves in the fortress Ivathas.  While not the last human city left, it is the last real stronghold the humans hold.  And if the elves have their way, it will fall.

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So, the Fall of Man is about humans teetering on the edge of extinction and surviving.  Ivathas will fall in the introduction, and it is up to the PCs to find the survivors and rebuild human society.  Whether that be through violence agianst the elves, finding the cause and cure of the plague, hiding out with the other races, or something else is up to the PCs and what skills they can bring to the table.

Below lies the list of chargen rules for people who wish to join the game.

Characters are built as fifth level adventurers using the Point Buy system (20 points) and standard gold for fifth level (10,500 GP).  Obviously, only humans are being allowed for playable races.  Only one class restriction exists, clerics cannot be dedicated to a god and must be dedicated to a belief system instead.

Characters must buy a +1 weapon and +1 armor/shield of their choice.  Those who are not proficient with armor or shields must buy some masterwork clothes with a +1 bonus on said clothes.  These weapons and armor that are purchased must also have the Divine tag on them, a +0 modification for weapons and armor.  And if you are proficient with shields and armor, you may buy both Divine armor and shields, but they must still both be +1.

As a GM, I tend to not give out enough money to be appropriate for a d20 game, so this is my solution.  As the legend of the characters grow in reclaiming human lands and restoring civilization, these Divine items will grow along with the characters.  This does not mean that the party won't find or purchase other weapons, but these are intended to be the end game items for them.  If a character has a weapon with a bonus higher than +1, they can trade these bonuses out for other attributes for the weapons, like Flaming or Fortification, as long as the item still has at least a +1 at the end, as per standard magic item rules.

There is also room for negotiation as far as Divine weapons.  A monk, for instance, could have gloves that let them use their unarmed damage still while providing the bonuses from the Divine tag.  A spellcaster could, instead, grab a staff and, after it reaches an equivalent monetary value, trade the bonuses out for a Staff of Healing or a Staff of Power.  A spellcaster that has a spellbook could, instead, have a spellbook that provides them with bonus spells instead of additional plusses.  Feel free to be creative in this instance.

And for the less interesting and weird house rules, all characters get an additional two skill points every level.  Hit dice are rolled in this game, but they have a minumum result of half the maximum value.  So a Fighter with a d10 will get at least five hit points every level, even if he rolls really poorly.

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Any questions asked by people will be added in this part of the document for all to see.

1) No third party content.
2) The above rules are not set in stone.  If you can come up with a really good reason for something, I'm willing to bend the rules as long as it doesn't interfere with the story as I've initially conceived it.  Just don't expect me to allow a lot of weird stuff.  And no elves.  I'm am not budging on the elf thing.
3) I plan on having everyone get together to discuss concept ideas once I've got the required number of players.  The game will also be on IRC, so if people need help with that, I can help them.