39
You missed a step ...
Session 0 comes after the pitch.
The pitch is the sales pitch the gamemaster puts out to see if anyone (other than them) is interested in playing. Now, you did put that out there but not in sufficient detail.
If your new campaign was going to be just like your old campaign but with giants instead of dragons (like Wizards of the Coast ...
14
It is totally legitimate for a GM to accept/reject characters/rules/etc in his game.
Some players might argue/question the decision but in the end, this should not cause offense unless you are very clumsy in how you announce and/or explain it.
Personally, I recommend that you discuss why you do not want to allow it and your players should respect that. As ...
13
The simple answer is you only get to use one other source material book, beyond the PHB, for everything related to your character creation (and advancement). So no, you can't have a Zariel tiefling as a Conquest Paladin.
Per the ALPG v9.1:
Forgotten Realms characters can choose race and class options from the Player’s Handbook and one other resource—a ...
10
"Guys? I want to do character creation during or after the Session Zero."
"...So let's hold off on character creation for now. No, seriously, I mean it."
It's really that simple. I, too, have had players that want to go off and create characters before they have any idea what sort of world they're creating and without knowing what everyone else is doing. ...
6
In Mage, the "elder" equivalent is "archmage."
And you can find the rules for making those in Masters of the Art. Character creation rules in that book start on page 81 — like elder vampires, they get a lot of additional dots to start with and aren’t limited to five dots in their traits, including Spheres.
Attributes: 8/6/4
Abilities: 19/13/7
Spheres: 12, ...
6
It uses heavy armor and has a very good health pool;
Most things with heavy armor proficiency also come with d10 or d12 HD. Barbarian’s d12 plus bonuses to Constitution while raging is the most you can get, obviously, but that doesn’t sound like a death knight and also barbarians don’t do heavy armor so well.
Wields mid and short-ranged magic to ...
5
Your "Genie" can't be any more powerful than a regular PC
Just to get it out of the way, you'd be building your genie to the same PL limit as anyone else, so your "wishes" need to built just like any power.
But that really doesn't limit them that much
Variable lets you manifest a large number of powers. With Affects Others, you can even give powers to ...
5
Yes, it would be acceptable.
Tool proficiencies are not used often (unless it is in Thieves Tools) and their influence on the game is minimal. So, switching musical instrument proficiency for artisan's tools proficiency should not imbalance the game. Rules for background customization (PHB 125) states: "choose a total of two tool proficiencies or languages ...
5
2 power points don’t really help much with manifesting
So power points are used to manifest psionic powers, e.g. with the psion class, but 2 more doesn’t make a huge difference. So the Wild Talent feat doesn’t really help very much with being a psion, nor does it really make a good reason, by itself, to multiclass into psion.
Mixing spellcasting and ...
4
Just don't ever participate in combat
Per the Initiative rule:
When combat starts, every participant makes a Dexterity check to determine their place in the initiative order.
So, you only make Dexterity checks for initiative when you participate in a combat. What exactly it means to "participate" isn't particularly well-defined (and has led to many ...
4
There's no need to look to third party, you can make small edits to Clerics for the flavor you want.
Clerics are an extremely versatile class and can easily be what you want in a Death Knight...
It uses heavy armor and has a very good health pool
Give them "back" Heavy Armor Proficiency; if d8 isn't enough health, give them Toughness as a bonus Feat
...
3
By default, the four listed "variant or optional rules" in quote #2 require DM approval in order to use them in your game. The AL Player's Guide is saying that AL approves these variants for use in AL games, so you don't need to seek permission from your DM; however, this isn't enough to use them, as they must also be in the PHB+1 resources you use. ...
2
Try telling them they can use it for a different campaign but not this one.
Tell them like "Hey, I understand you like your character(s), I understand you put time and effort into creating it but I don't think that (or those) character(s) would be a good fit for this particular world. Maybe you can use them in another campaign."
This could help by telling ...
2
Try explaining practical impacts of forging ahead with a campaign-inappropriate character.
The other answers are excellent, but if players remain attached to their inappropriate choices even after Session 0 discussion, the following may be of use.
In my experience, tabletop players tend to primarily focus on one of two areas with regard to their characters:...
2
If you look at Aquaman’s Benefit (DC is the only book I have available), his being King of Atlantis is only a 3. Darkseid’s, for being Lord of Apokolips, is a 10. Vandal Savage has a similar Benefit to Lex with Wealth and Resources, so it would seem that Lex’s Benefit does not include being President.
2
Yes, but not between PCs.
The biggest change is not in the balance between PCs, but between PCs and the rest of the world. If every player character has a cantrip, then every player character is now a spellcaster.
Why is this a problem? Well, some magic items (such as the Wand of Fireballs and Wand of Lightning Bolts) require attunement by a spellcaster. ...
2
There are no rules in the rulebook for creating more experienced characters, nor is "elder mage" a defined status for mages (though it is used by vampires).
From my experience, the easiest way to create experienced characters is to create a starting character to make sure you have a solid base, and then reward experience to spend after the initial creation.
...
1
Quickened True Strike for +20 1/round
The following trick works with the RAW but exploits several problems in the rules. There will be a section at the end detailing these issues in terms of what's broken and how everything fits together.
Implementation
So, the basic idea is to sacrifice your swift action to give yourself +20 to hit with your first ...
1
How High is High Enough?
I'm not sure that you need that high of an attack bonus. Sure, you need to be hitting to deal sneak attack damage, but as an Arcane Trickster you'll often be able to target touch AC. Even low-level spells like Acid Splash and Snowball allow this. For many enemies touch AC is much lower than their regular AC, so that helps a lot.
If ...
1
Buy out your drow LA.
There's a variant rule for buying off LA; IIRC it originally came from the book Unearthed Arcana. Once you reach a certain level, you pay some XP and the LA goes away since your race's advantages have become largely redundant by that level. My advice in this post will have assumed that you have done so. For a Drow's LA of +2, you could ...
1
Give 'em enough rope
Tell the players what your campaign is about.
If you see a PC that is a bad fit, let the player know what you see.
If they want to play that one anyway, let them succeed or fail on their own merits.
If they succeed: Great! Your player done good.
If they fail: Great!
Have them roll up a replacement (or otherwise create a new ...
1
Keith Baker himself introduced "dragonforged" in Morgrave Miscellany quite recently.
In the Mournland, there is a "Dragonforge" established by Aaren d'Cannith, which ran from the year 993 to the Day of Mourning, and as a result, warforged with a more lizardly appearance now walk Eberron, if in little number (supposedly less than two dozen, but that's ...
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