The World of Gaia
(D&D 3.5e campaign setting by Laggy)

This is a temporary lousy page that I've set up until things are more fleshed out and I have time to prettify it.

The Forces of Gaia
Introduction
Technology
Mechanics of Magic
Nations of Gaia
World Breakdown (World Map)
Deities of Gaia
Characters of Gaia
Magical Items of Gaia
Alternate Rules/Changes
Custom Material: Prestige Classes and Feats
Link: D&D 3.5e SRD

Current Character Sheets (blank format) -
   Kojiro (CG male elf Rog4/Ftr2/Kat2)
   Treyth (LE male human Fav12)
   Cyril (CG male elf Ftr6/Clr4/Arc20) [epic]
   Athena (NG female elf Clr7)
   Kerov (LG male half-celestial Ftr6/Pal20) [epic]
   Gebba (NE female halfling Rog6/Psi4/Sdn2)



Deities of Gaia

Deity Name
Known as...
Alignment
Portfolios
Domains
Favored Weapon
Novak god of balance/law
Lawful neutral

bastard sword
Ceran god of magic/knowledge
Neutral


quarterstaff
Glider
god of skies/weather
Neutral


rapier
Tanga
god of mischief/trickery Chaotic neutral


dagger
Squintz
god of justice/valor
Lawful good


longsword
Quilan
god of woodlands/nature Neutral good


longbow
Dar
god of fighting/strength
Chaotic good


greatsword
Ruben
god of retribution/tyranny
Lawful evil


heavy mace
Lancing
god of pain/death
Neutral evil


scythe
Medina
god of secrets/darkness
Chaotic evil


katar



Magical Items of Gaia
Night Sword (Major Artifact)
Description: Whispers speak of a dark cloaked figure armed with a jet-black blade, slinking through the streets and alleys of the underworld. One life after another in his path meets a grisly end, their faces cowled with skeletal features in death and their skin dry and withered to the touch. How such an untimely demise came to these souls, concrete evidence has never been produced; but speculation and rumors abound place the blame squarely on the shadowy man and his weapon. Often these rumors are nothing more than glorified whims... but at times, they can be surprisingly accurate.

The Night Sword is a masterfully crafted weapon, its blade so black it resembles a large slab of solid obsidian and its hilt carved from glimmering jet. One flawless ruby, the size of a child's palm, lies engraved in the center of the hilt and glows with a malicious crimson aura whenever the blade tastes life. Its origin are unknown to most, but legend speaks that it appeared upon the first lunar eclipse of the world, and has passed from one cruel hand to another since, those with enough malice to feed the sword's hunger.

When first wielded by a living creature (anyone who possesses a Constitution score), a spiritual link is forged henceforth between the wielder and the blade. An unwilling target may attempt a Will save (DC 34) to resist this effect, though a successful save inhibits the use of any of the sword's powers, and the creature must re-try every time he attempts to wield the Night Sword. Nonliving users, such as undead or constructs, find the sword only to function normally as a +4 adamantite bastard sword.

A possessor of the Night Sword with the aforementioned link gains a superior form of darkvision (up to 120 ft.) which penetrates even magical darkness and sees through any spell or illusion which utilizes the Shadow descriptor (such as the shadow conjuration spells). At will, the sword can exert (or dispel) a deeper darkness spell centered upon itself as a free action.

Any target struck by the Night Sword is subject to a vampiric touch spell (as cast by a 20th level wizard). Rather than being gained as temporary hit points, however, the wielder may choose to instead channel the drained energies into the blade. The embedded ruby can store up to 150 hit points of damage in this fashion; any excess damage afterwards is automatically transferred as normal temporary hit points. Upon a successful hit, the wielder can discharge all of the stored energy, creating the effects of a harm spell (but using the amount stored to determine damage).

As one would imagine, wielding such dark powers has its price, and the Night Sword demands a very dangerous payment in return for its frightening abilities. At midnight of every day, if the ruby does not hold the maximum 150 hit points drainable, the current possessor of the sword immediately suffers from one negative level per 10 points missing (round up to determine total negative levels gained). The DC to prevent permanent level drain twenty-four hours afterwards is 34. The remaining energies within the ruby is then emptied, forcing the wielder to acquire at least 150 hit points of life energy on a daily basis or suffer the dire consequences.

The current person bonded to the sword is unable to rid himself of the soul link, even if he discards the blade or hands it to another. The link persists as long as the person lives; should he die, whether from natural death or the Night Sword's deadly hunger, only then is the bond broken and another user able to properly wield the sword. A wish or miracle spell is able to shatter the link, but only has a 50% chance of doing so, and the link is easily re-established should the possessor foolishly wield the sword again.

As tales of the power of the Night Sword spread, inevitably those who create magical weapons have attempted to copy its strength. They have only succeeded partially, creating a new magical enchantment property imbuable in any standard magic weapon:

Draining: A draining weapon sucks the life vitality of victims that it strikes. At a command word, the weapon begins to glow an eerie red mist. Upon a successful hit, a draining weapon deals 1d8 points of negative energy damage; the wielder gains this amount as temporary hit points. By its nature, a draining weapon is ineffective against creatures immune against negative energy effects, such as undead and constructs. This property can only be applied to melee weapons.
Strong necromancy; CL 8th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, vampiric touch; Price +2 bonus.

Caster Level: 20th
Prerequisites: Major artifacts are uncraftable by mortal means.
Market Price: - gp      Weight: 6 lbs



Alternate Rules/Changes
   For rolling stats, characters have two options: either the standard 4d6 (best three out of four) or using the 30-point buy system. For the former method, the requisites for re-rolling are more relaxed than the ones stated in the PHB. You are eligible to re-roll if your total stat modifiers come out to +2 or less, or your highest stat is a 14 or lower. You are allowed one reroll if your stats meet these requirements, but you lose your first previous set of stats if you do so.
   All standard races are allowed. Additional races from other sources, especially ones with ECL, are allowed on a case by case basis with the DM presuming they fit with the campaign setting. The same goes for any feats, skills, and prestige classes.
   Starting levels are entirely up to the DM, but the standard for a new campaign is 3rd level.
   Some of the base starting classes are slightly altered. Sorcerers are greatly changed. The favored soul class (a cleric who spontaneously casts spells - page 1 and page 2) from the Miniatures handbook is implemented as a standard base class.
   When rolling hit points, the first three levels of a character always gets maximum hit dice. Afterwards, whenever you roll for HP upon level up, you are entitled to at least half of the class's hit die even if you roll lower. For example, a fighter gains 5 hp even if he rolls 1-4 on his d10.
   Equipment availability is slightly different in Gaia. Mithral equipment can only be found in relative abundance within the elven town of Lorellan; sold anywhere else, it is triple the normal cost in the DMG. Adamantite, likewise, is a mostly exclusive trait found in Ruby City, and sells for twice its normal cost anywhere else in the world. Only the major cities (Terra, Dragonia Prime, Tierina, Ruby City, Emerald City) are likely to contain a vast amount of magical equipment available, particularly anything over a 5,000 gp market value.
   For all attack rolls, skill checks, and saving throws, a natural 1 is a -10 on the roll and a natural 20 is a +30.
   Unconsciousness is handled slightly differently. From 1st to 10th level, the normal rules of dying and death apply. From 11th level onward, however, the maximum number of negative hit points to stay alive (normally -10) extends to your character level (so a 16th level character would be alive and unconscious at -16 hit points, dying at -17.) It is also general DM policy to allow a PC one reroll per day on any effect that would kill his character (whether it is a saving throw, attack or damage roll, or stabilization check).
   A natural 20 on the confirmed threat roll of a critical hit inflicts a critical hit even on creatures normally immune to them. This is because the critical hit, in that case, is actually a devastating attack that deals more damage than normal, rather than striking an opponent's weak point.
   The ridiculous system of weapon sizes implemented in 3.5e is not employed here. The old 3.0 weapon list stays. A greatsword is a Large weapon, two-handed for a Medium creature, one-handed for a Large, and not wieldable by a Small. There are no 'small greatswords'.
   Certain spells changed in 3.5e were reverted back to 3.0, or changed to a compromise between the two versions. These spells are haste, bull's strength / eagle's splendor / cat's grace / bear's endurance / owl's wisdom, mage's disjunction, and gate. Click here for a full list.
   Golems do not possess nigh ungodly magic immunity. There is no reason why a golem cannot be struck by a fireball. They retain their construct properties, which makes them immune to a number of spells already, but otherwise they are perfectly vulnerable to magic as anything else.
   Other changes to be listed here as I decide them.

Alternate Sorcerer Template
SORCERER
LV Special
1 Heighten spell
2 Innate arcana
3 Metamagic proficiency +1
4 Innate arcana
5
6 Innate arcana
7 Metamagic proficiency +2
8 Innate arcana
9 Spell penetration
10 Innate arcana
11 Metamagic proficiency +3
12 Innate arcana
13
14 Innate arcana
15 Metamagic proficiency +4
16 Innate arcana
17 Greater spell penetration
18 Innate arcana
19 Metamagic proficiency +5
20 Innate arcana
Heighten Spell: The sorcerer gains Heighten Spell for free at 1st level. Additionally, when using it, he does not suffer the usual penalty of increased casting time associated with metamagic.
Innate Arcana: At 2nd level, and every other even level afterwards, the sorcerer learns one new spell in any spell level that he can currently cast spells from.
Metamagic Proficiency: At 3rd level, the sorcerer gains metamagic proficiency +1. He can now cast metamagic-enhanced spells without increased spellcasting  time so long as the spell level increase is equal to or less than proficiency. This proficiency increases by 1 every four levels afterwards, becoming +2 at 7th, +3 at 11th, +4 at 15th, and +5 at 19th.
Spell Penetration: At 9th level, the sorcerer gains the Spell Penetration feat for free if he does not already have it.
Greater Spell Penetration: At 17th level, the sorcerer gains the Greater Spell Penetration feat for free if he does not already have it.

In all other respects, the sorcerer is identical to the 3.5 sorcerer, except that he cannot trade in or out spells at every even level.



Spell Changes
Haste
Identical to the 3.0 version, except that rather than gaining an additional partial action, you gain 1 extra attack per round.
Bull's Strength / Eagle's Splendor / Cat's Grace / Bear's Endurance / Owl's Wisdom
When casting any of these, you may use either the 3.0 or 3.5 version (1d4+1 stat boost for 1 hr/lvl or +4 stat boost for 1 min/lvl).
Mage's Disjunction
This spell automatically destroys antimagic fields, rather than having a d% equal to your caster level chance of doing so.
Gate
Gate does not entail an XP cost no matter what use you employ it for.



Prestige Classes
Katari - a specialist in the deadly arts of wielding the ancient katar weapon, the punching dagger.
Honor Guard - an elite bodyguard trained to defend those he covers with valiance and rigor.
Lancer - an armored fighter armed with a lance, able to leap tremendous heights when attacking.
Magus - a powerful arcane spellcaster who utilizes the power of the elements.
Spellshaper - a mage who learns and uses metamagic to shape his spells to great effect.



Feats
1
Two-Handed Quicken (General, Fighter)
Prerequisites: Dex 15+, base attack bonus of +4 or higher, Weapon Focus in the corresponding weapon.
Description: You are adept at manipulating the momentum of a two-handed weapon, and can position your body to allow your attacks to flow into one another, sacrificing strength for speed.
Benefit: When performing the full-attack action with a two-handed weapon, you can get one additional attack at your highest attack bonus, but you apply your Strength modifier normally (rather than 1.5x, as usually done with two-handed weapons) to your damage roll for all attacks made this round.

Hasten Spell (Metamagic)
Prerequisites: Ability to cast spells of 3rd level or higher.
Description: You are skilled at slinging spells quickly, cutting down on normal spellcasting time.
Benefit: Casting a hastened spell is a move-equivalent action. You can perform a standard action, such as moving, attacking or casting a spell, in the same round. A spell whose casting time is more than 1 full round action cannot be hastened. A hastened spell uses up a spell slot three levels higher than the spell's actual level. You cannot cast a hastened spell on the defensive, as all of your focus is on completing the spell quickly. Thus, you provoke an attack of opportunity when casting a hastened spell.