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Avernus Rising
- D&D 5e
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The Web of All Torment
You and your friends gave up the adventuring life long ago, the best decision you ever made. You were on a quest for... something. It's hard to remember back that far. You aren't sure how long ago. But then you came across this cute little town in the middle of nowhere.
The town only had one inn - the Kozy Kobweb. Luckily, they had vacancies. You had one of the best meals of your life, a fantastic time chatting with the locals, and enjoyed sing-a-longs over mugs of expertly crafted ale. You slept well and woke up refreshed and happy. You even told the owner - Ms. Alice - about how happy you were there and how you were sad that you had to leave and continue your quest.
But Ms. Alice told you there was no need. Several of her staff had just retired, and she offered you all jobs on the spot. You instantly accepted, the quest forgotten.
Now you spend your days working and socializing with your friends. You still have plenty of time to relax. All of your old weapons and equipment are packed away in the cellar - who needs them? Rather than the constant travel and danger of your old lives, you have endless peaceful days, one fading into the next.
And you couldn't be happier. Everything is just perfect.
***
The Web of All-Torment is a one-shot module from the DCC Horror line, and it is not for the faint of heart. This is one disturbing adventure, ladies and gentlemen, and character death is far from the worst thing that can happen. It is dark, twisted, and gory, and the PCs will be thrust right into it. None will escape unchanged.All PCs will be third level, which is the equivalent power level of fifth or sixth-level PCs in a D&D system. Not that it will save you.
- Dungeon Crawl Classics
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Letter of Marque
This is a 9th level gestalt 3.5e game with quite a few house rules, which you should skim first to see you find them palatable and then read in detail as you work on your character. See the character creation rules, and subscribe to the Announcements thread. Once your character thread is reasonably complete, head over to The Purple Dolphin Inn for a pre-game IC that will help me decide if I like the things you post; after your character checks in with the First Mate, you'll get a private interview with the Captain.
Game closes to new applications at the end of the official application period. Players who have created a character thread by that time will have time to complete their applications and engage in the required pre-game IC.
- D&D 3.5e
- closes March 15
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Into the Disputed Lands
When the last Sareltine Emperor died, everyone assumed that the result would be civil war and maybe a new dynasty. Instead, warlords broke the Empire into a myriad of successor states that war across much of the known world, as banditry and savage humanoids become greater and greater threats.
Two of those successor states, Pellia and Vancia, have, to try and keep the fragile peace that neither wants, banned either realm from sending soldiers into the Disputed Lands between them. Unfortunately, that makes the Disputed Lands a haven for criminals, exiles, outcasts, rebels, loners and worse. And trade must still cross this stretch of territory, one way or another.
Predictably, bandits have been attracted to this trade - and now, to keep the peace between the realms, Adventurers have been dispatched to the ruins of an old Imperial Fort, Fort Falcoth to drive the Wolf Brotherhood from their strangling position on a critical trade route.- Pathfinder 1e
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- Pathfinder 1e
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Rin’s Storm King’s Thunder
Rin’s Storm King’s Thunder
I'll be taking 6 players!
What to Expect
If I begin to think the party has wandered too far away from the main plot, Harshnag will help steer you all back to the main story. Faction members can also re-instill a sense of growing urgency and point you all in the right direction.
Combat
In order to facilitate the speed of the game, I offload a lot traditional DM responsibilities on to you. I will post the statblocks of whatever your fighting along with their hit points. You will be expected to roll the enemies’ saves against your spells, and you’ll know instantly if your attacks have killed them.
Maps
I post battle maps. You will be expected to give me your location in your post as a Letter-Number coordinate: e.g., M23, Z6, A15, etc., unless you didn’t move, in which case, an em-dash (—) is fine. Diagonal movement is 1-2-1.
Deadly Encounters
One of the reasons that I want big parties, allow characters to roll stats, and have extra feats is that I also like to throw more stuff at them. The less I have to worry about a TPK, the more fun we can all have, and the less work I have to do carefully balancing encounters.
Introduction
You are about to embark on a great adventure that pits heroes against giants bent on reshaping the world. Storm King’s Thunder is a Dungeons & Dragons adventure for four to six player characters. You will start the adventure with a 1st-level character. The characters should reach at least 11th level by the adventure’s conclusion. Because giants figure prominently in the story, at least one character should be able to speak and understand the Giant language.
The adventure takes place in the Forgotten Realms, specifically in a region known as the Savage Frontier, in the northwest corner of the continent of Faerûn.
Adventure Background
The Savage Frontier (also known as the North) is a cold, rugged, sparsely populated land of snow-capped mountains, rocky hills, sprawling forests, and foggy vales. Isolated strongholds, ancient burial mounds, and the ruins of many forgotten empires dot this vast landscape. Bounded by the Sea of Swords to the west and the desert of Anauroch to the east, the Savage Frontier extends as far north as Icewind Dale and as far south as the town of Daggerford. Old roads stretch across this great expanse, linking the dwarven strongholds and mines in the mountains to the coastal settlements, frontier towns, and fortified outposts of humans and other folk. These roads are long, lonely, or poorly defended, making them dangerous to traverse. In fertile valleys, towns and cities have sprung up, separated by dozens if not hundreds of miles of untamed wilderness haunted by bandits, barbarians, and monsters.
Giant RunesEvil dragons stirred into action by their dark queen, Tiamat, threatened the settlements of the Savage Frontier for a time. Ultimately, they were defeated and forced to withdraw to their lairs, while Tiamat was banished to the Nine Hells. Fear of the dragons’ wrath has faded quickly with the coming of a new threat: giants. The peoples of the North are no strangers to giant incursions. Frost giants have long claimed the Spine of the World as their demesne, and hill giants are known to scrounge for food in the untamed hills. But now, in the past couple of months, giants of every kind have emerged from their strongholds in force to threaten civilization as never before—and not just frost giants and hill giants, but also stone giants, fire giants, and cloud giants. All of the giants are in an uproar. Reports of giant attacks throughout the North have reached the coastal cities of Luskan, Neverwinter, and Waterdeep, stoking fears that the giants are waging war against humans, dwarves, elves, and other small folk.
The Ordning
Giant society (such as it is) is defined in large part by the ordning, a caste system imposed upon the giants by their gods, chief among them Annam the All-Father. The ordning determines where a giant stands among his or her ilk. Traditionally, storm giants have stood at the top of the ordning. Tall and powerful, they struggle to keep the weaker races of giants from despoiling the realms of small folk and sparking conflict. The greatest storm giants are powerful seers, skilled at identifying and interpreting cosmic signs and divine omens. The aloof and aristocratic cloud giants, one step below the storm giants, rarely condescend to deal with lesser giants or small folk. Extravagance defines their culture and their place in the ordning. Below them are the tyrannical, warmongering fire giants and the merciless, predatory frost giants. Fire giants rank themselves by their forging skill, whereas frost giants rank themselves by their martial prowess. Near the bottom of the ordning are the xenophobic stone giants, who mostly live underground and regard the surface world as a realm of dreams. How well they sculpt stone determines their place among their peers. The lowest and smallest of the true giants are the hill giants, as gluttonous as they are loathsome. Hill giants are dullards who live in fear of their more powerful giant cousins. In hill giant society, the biggest rule.
From Left to Right: King Hekaton, Queen Neri, Mirran, Nym, and SerissaDragons are the ancient enemies of giants. Thousands of years ago, the last great empire of giants—Ostoria—fell after a long and brutal conflict with dragons. Little of Ostoria remains in what is now called the Savage Frontier. The civilizations of small folk have taken over the land once ruled by giants. Although evil giants make occasional forays into territory settled by small folk, their ambitions have long been curtailed by their lack of cohesion and the imposition of good-aligned storm giants and cloud giants whose memories of ancient, glorious Ostoria have faded over time.
The recent efforts by dragons to bring Tiamat into the world (as told in the adventures Hoard of the Dragon Queen and The Rise of Tiamat) and the attempts by small folk to thwart them so upset the giant gods that Annam the All-Father shattered the ordning between the giants to break his “children” out of their complacency, pitting the six giant types against one another while keeping some semblance of order within each type. In so doing, Annam has spurred cloud, fire, frost, stone, and hill giants to challenge the established hierarchy and reforge their destiny. All the giants sensed the upheaval instantly, and now the giant types fiercely compete against one another, striving to create a new ordning through their deeds and accomplishments. These giants’ calamitous endeavors have not only put the settlements of humans and other small folk in jeopardy but also attracted the attention of the giants’ ancient enemies—the dragons—who will not abide the rise of another giant empire.
Small folk can only speculate as to the cause of the giants’ unrest. It remains to be seen whether the old ordning between the giant types will be restored, or whether a new hierarchy will replace the old one, knocking the storm giants from their lofty perch.
From Left to Right: Iymrith, Chief Guh, and Thane KayalithicaFactions in the North
The giants’ plots have far-reaching consequences for the Savage Frontier and the peoples who live there. Giant castles in the clouds have been seen drifting overhead, casting ominous shadows on the settlements of the North. Caravans and farmsteads have come under attack. Frost giant longships have begun terrorizing the Sword Coast. Various organizations throughout the North are justly concerned, and some have important roles to play in events yet to unfold.
The Emerald Enclave
The Emerald Enclave is a group of wilderness survivalists who preserve the natural order by rooting out unnatural threats. They struggle to keep civilization and the wilderness from destroying each other, and they help others survive the natural perils of the Savage Frontier.
As sightings of giants become more common, members of the Emerald Enclave begin to realize something is afoot. Hill giants laying waste to vast tracts of forest, stone giants leveling homesteads, frost giants endangering mountain passes, and fire giants rounding up slaves and putting grasslands and forests to the torch are enough to invoke the enclave’s wrath.
Goals
- Restore and preserve the natural order.
- Destroy all that is unnatural.
- Keep the elemental forces of the world in check.
- Keep civilization and the wilderness from destroying each other.
Beliefs
- The natural order must be respected and preserved.
- Forces that upset the natural order must be destroyed.
- Civilization and the wilderness must learn to coexist peacefully.
Member Traits
Members of the Emerald Enclave are spread far and wide, and usually operate in isolation. They learn to depend on themselves more than others. Survival in a harsh world also demands great fortitude and mastery of certain fighting and survival skills. Members of the Enclave who dedicate themselves to helping others survive the perils of the wilderness are more social than others who are charged with defending sacred glades and preserving the natural balance.
Ranks
- Springwarden (rank 1)
- Summerstrider (rank 2)
- Autumnreaver (rank 3)
- Winstalker (rank 4)
- Master of the Wild (rank 5)
The Harpers
The Harpers are spellcasters and spies who covertly oppose the abuse of power, magical or otherwise. Working alone or in small cells, they gather information throughout Faerûn, discern the political dynamics within each region, and help the weak, the poor, and the oppressed, acting openly only as a last resort.
The Harpers were instrumental in defeating Tiamat and ending the tyranny of dragons, and with reports of giant attacks on the rise, they see giants as an emergent threat to peace in the North. The Harpers don’t know why the giants are becoming so active all at once, or what their ultimate goals are. As yet, no major towns or cities have come under attack, although the Harpers expect that situation to change. Harpers are eager to recruit adventurers to help them combat the giant threat.
Goals
- Gather information throughout Faerûn.
- Promote fairness and equality by covert means.
- Thwart tyrants and leaders, governments, and organizations that grow too powerful.
- Aid the weak, poor and oppressed.
Beliefs
- One can never have too much information or arcane knowledge.
- Too much power leads to corruption. The abuse of magic must be closely monitored.
- No one should be powerless.
Member Traits
Harper agents are trained to act alone and rely on their own resources. When they get into scrapes, they don’t count on their fellow Harpers to rescue them. Nevertheless, Harpers are dedicated to helping one another in times of need, and friendships between Harpers are nigh unbreakable. Masterful spies and infiltrators, they use various guises and secret identities to form relationships, cultivate their information networks, and manipulate others into doing what needs to be done. Although most Harpers prefer to operate in the shadows, there are exceptions.
Ranks
- Watcher (rank 1)
- Harpshadow (rank 2)
- Brightcandle (rank 3)
- Wise Owl (rank 4)
- High Harper (rank 5)
The Lords’ Alliance
Various settlements of the North have banded together to form the Lords’ Alliance, a shaky coalition that proactively eliminates threats to their mutual safety and prosperity. Alliance leaders are often contentious, while their operatives seek honor and glory for themselves and their respective lords. Key representatives of the Lords’ Alliance include the canny Lord Dagult Neverember of Neverwinter, the resplendent Lady Laeral Silverhand of Waterdeep, the grave Lord Taern Hornblade of Silverymoon, and the willful Queen Dagnabbet of Mithral Hall.
With the aid of adventurers, the Lords’ Alliance thwarted Tiamat and her dragons. Alliance members aren’t about to let giants run roughshod over their settlements and plunder their farmsteads. Alliance members call on adventurers of every stripe to attack and kill giants on sight, promising rewards of 200 to 500 gold pieces for each giant head brought to their gates.
Rumors that the Lords’ Alliance was behind King Hekaton’s disappearance have not yet reached the alliance leaders. Were the alliance to learn of these rumors, its leaders would quietly investigate the veracity of the claims while publicly dismissing them.
Goals
- Ensure the safety and prosperity of cities and other settlements of Faerûn.
- Maintain a strong coalition against the forces of disorder.
- Proactively eliminate threats to the established powers.
- Bring honor and glory to one’s leaders and one’s homeland.
Beliefs
- If civilization is to survive, all must unite against the dark forces that threaten it.
- Fight for your realm. Only you can bring honor, glory, and prosperity to your lord and homeland.
- Don’t wait for the enemy to come to you. The best defense is a strong offense.
Member Traits
To seek out and destroy threats to their homelands, agents of the Lords’ Alliance must be highly trained at what they do. Few can match their skills in the field. They fight for the glory and the security of their people and for the lords who rule over them, and they do so with pride. However, the Lords’ Alliance can only survive if its members “play nice” with one another, which requires a certain measure of diplomacy. Rogue agents within the Lords’ Alliance are rare, but defections have been known to occur.
Ranks
- Cloak (rank 1)
- Redknife (rank 2)
- Stingblade (rank 3)
- Warduke (rank 4)
- Lioncrown (rank 5)
The Order of the Gauntlet
Members of the Order of the Gauntlet seek to protect others from the depredations of evildoers. Placing their faith in deities such as Torm, Helm, and Tyr, they bring the strength of their faith, their hearts, and their weapons to bear against villainy.
Knights of the order and their loyal squires can be found throughout the North, gathering information on the giants, searching for their lairs, and aiding in the defense of settlements.
Goals
- Be armed and vigilant against evil.
- Identify evil threats such as secretive power groups and inherently evil creatures.
- Enforce justice.
- Enact retribution against evil actions—do not strike preemptively.
Beliefs
- Faith is the greatest weapon against evil—faith in one’s god, one’s friends, and one’s self.
- Battling evil is an extraordinary task that requires extraordinary strength and bravery.
- Punishing an evil act is just. Punishing an evil thought is not.
Member Traits
The Order of the Gauntlet is a dedicated, tightly knit group of like-minded individuals driven by religious zeal or a finely-honed sense of justice and honor. Friendship and camaraderie are important to members of the order, and they share a trust and a bond normally reserved for siblings. Like highly motivated soldiers, members of the Order of the Gauntlet seek to become the best at what they do and look forward to testing their mettle. There are few, if any, “lone wolves” in this organization.
Ranks
- Chevall (rank 1)
- Marcheon (rank 2)
- Whitehawk (rank 3)
- Vindicator (rank 4)
- Righteous Hand (rank 5)
The Zhentarim (Characters may not be members of the Zhentarim)
The Zhentarim, also known as the Black Network, is an unscrupulous shadow network that seeks to expand its influence and power base throughout the North. Its members crave wealth and personal power, though the public face of the organization appears much more benign, offering the best mercenaries money can buy. Adventurers allied with the Zhentarim are free to profit as they see fit, either by helping or hindering the giants.
The Black Network has spies and operatives in every major northern settlement, and it doesn’t wish to see its footholds destroyed by rampaging giants. As it strives to protect its holdings, the Zhentarim also wants to understand the giants’ motivations. The leaders of the Black Network are open to the possibility of establishing trade relations with the giants or bribing them, if necessary, to ensure their own continued wealth and prosperity. At the same time, the Zhentarim profits by selling the services of mercenaries to those who can’t defend themselves.
Goals
- Amass wealth.
- Look for opportunities to seize power.
- Gain influence over important people and organizations.
- Dominate Faerûn.
Beliefs
- The Zhentarim is your family. You watch out for it, and it watches out for you.
- You are the master of your own destiny. Never be less than what you deserve to be.
- Everything—and everyone—has a price.
Member Traits
A member of the Zhentarim thinks of himself or herself as a member of a large family, and relies on the Black Network for resources and security. However, members are granted enough autonomy to pursue their own interests and gain some measure of personal power or influence. The Black Network is a meritocracy. It promises “the best of the best,” although in truth, the Zhentarim is more interested in spreading its own propaganda and influence than investing in the improvement of its individual members.
Ranks
- Fang (rank 1)
- Wolf (rank 2)
- Viper (rank 3)
- Ardragon (rank 4)
- Dread Lord (rank 5)
From Left to Right: Jarl Storvald, Duke Zalto, and Countess Sansuri
Available Source BooksYou may use any most lineage, backgrounds, and class features from the following books:
- Core: Player’s Handbook
- Core: Monster Manual
- Core: Dungeon Master’s Guide
- Supplement: Xanathar’s Guide to Everything
- Supplement: Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
- Supplement: Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons
- Supplement: Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
- Supplement: Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
- Setting: Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
- Special: Because I really like the Investigator background and the Rogue Inquisitor subclass, those are both available from Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, even though none of the other options are.
If an option occurs in more than one book, you must use the most recently published book. For example, both SCAG and MPMM list the Genasi lineages. You must use the MPMM version.
- D&D 5e
- closes April 6
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Shadowrun: Miami
Welcome to the city of Miami, capital of the Sovereign State of Southern Florida, member of the Carib League! Don't mind all the anarchy Omae, it's part and parcel of Miami these days. Gunderson Corp used to have a stranglehold on our fair city, has fallen on hard times, and the other corps are coming in like vultures to a corpse. The government's collapsing, security nothing like it used to be, and a bunch of eco-mages out in the everglades just got down fragging our power for a week. Everything's chaos, and it's the perfect business opportunity. Other corps are moving in, smuggled goods are in high demand, and it's never been a better time to be a Runner in Miami! Welcome to the chaos!
I'll be running this Shadowrun 5e game for a group of between 4-6 players with the application process running till the 13th of next month. This time might be extended depending on how far applicants are along by then. This will be a pink mohawk game
- Shadowrun 5e
- closes April 13
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Northern Journey
Northern Journey is an epic adventure in seven main parts that takes place in the Forgotten Realms campaign world. The journey begins in Neverwinter and Silverymoon in the Savage Frontier of the North and gradually draws the PC's eastward through the Backlands of the Sword Coast, Sunset Vale, Cormyr and the Dalelands, across the Vast and into Impiltur and the Great Dale and at last into the cold lands of Damara and Vaasa.
NJ belongs to the group of adventures that one usually categorizes as a problem-solving campaign, a think campaign, etc. It will focus heavily on character development and group interaction. Yes, there will be plenty of action to be had, but if you are a player that prefers more of a hack-and-slash campaign, the kind where the PC's kill lots of monsters, wipe their swords, holy symbols and spellbooks clean, collect treasure and head for the next dungeon, NJ probably will not be your cup of tea.- AD&D 2e
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Rultmoork
AS ABOVE ...
... SO BELOW
Explore wasteland ruins and uncover mysterious clues to the past.
The adventurers investigate a solitary spire of stone in on the edges of the barren mountain
wastelands. According to legend, water once sprung forth from this spire,
blessing the land with life.
Now, the land is dry, the ancient site in ruins, and a wondrous waterclock
is stagnant. This stagnation infuses all beings, from the strange cultists on
the surface to the former elemental guardians.
It is up to the adventurers to defeat the ancient evils within Rultmoork,
restore the waterclock, and bring life back to the land.
CAMPAIGN FEATURES
- Playstyles for all player types such as roleplaying, ruin exploration, investigation, riddle and puzzle solving, extreme combat, and dungeon delving.
- Wasteland Archaeology: Explore ancient ruins, marvel at murals, decipher a lost language, and piece together clues (some of which are magic items!)
- Visions of the Past: Travel through time and become priests living 1,000 years in the past to conduct a roleplaying-rich murder investigation
- Brutal, unique monsters that require both brains & brawn to defeat.
- Three nightmarish bosses to challenge even the most experienced groups .
- Logical environments reward players for paying attention and engaging with the wonders of Rultmoork.
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New Language: Grekian! Riddles and clues appear in a runic language players must decipher using the lexeme amulet (via a handout wheel) or by devising their own cipher.
A WORD OF WARNING
Rultmoork is a challenging and deadly adventure intended for veteran players.
Only the truly skilled and fearless should dare venture into this place.
GAMEPLAY DETAILS
Theme: Complex Fantasy
Campaign World: Midgard (Kobold Press)
Starting Level: 5th
Ending Level: 10thWelcome friends to Rultmoork. I would like to lay out my expectations up front.
- Expect your actions to have consequences. Don't be stupid. Play smart. If I give you lots of hints that opening the box will unleash fiery death. Don't open the box and expect to live. Rultmoork is an incredibly challenging adventure designed for the veteran player. It will take all your wits to survive.
- I'm a storyteller, the rule of cool applies. If it's cool, cinematic and epic, screw the rules- I'll probably allow it. If this grates against your rules lawyer soul...we are not meant to play together. I also allow a lot of Kobold Press 3rd party material to give my players more options than what is allotted by the base 5e system.
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Unless I tell you otherwise... assume you can play with all the beautiful scenery to help craft the story. I expect each of you create interesting scenes, don't just walk into a room, roll the dice, and ask what you found. Tell me what you are saying, and doing, and what your ultimate goal is. If I need a dice roll, I will ask for one.
CHARACTER CREATION
Character Creation & Play Guidelines
Get the File by Clicking Here
Character Submissions: You will also need to start a thread in the applications area for your submission. If you have any questions about my rules for character building, any thoughts about character backgrounds, or to request that I review your character then you can do so by Clicking Here.5th Level Characters: Since this campaign starts at 5th level, each character will receive an additional 400 gold pieces on top of their starting equipment and can select one magic item from the list below:
- +1 weapon
- +1 shield
- +1 rod of the pact keeper
- +1 wand of the war mage
- +1 all-purpose tool (TCE)
- +1 amulet of the devout (TCE)
- +1 arcane grimoire (TCE)
- +1 bloodwell vial (TCE)
- +1 dragonhide belt (FTD)
- +1 moon sickle (TCE)
- +1 rhythm-maker
TECHNICAL STUFF
Application Deadline: April 20th, 2024 midnight (US Central Standard Time)
Post Requirements: Minimum posting rate of two to three times per week.
Party Size: Looking for 6 players.
Can I submit more than one character?
No. I'm going to go ahead and limit it to one character submission per person. That being said, feel free to change your character concept as much as you want between now and the close date!- D&D 5e
- closes April 20
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Barrowmaze
Ages ago, an unknown people settled near a great moor. Following their custom, they built a village and constructed burial mounds and underground tombs to lay their dead to rest. Some were buried in simple alcoves, while others were entombed behind sealed doors and guarded by deadly traps. This continued for centuries, and the tombs grew into an immense complex of maze-like complexity.
Then, something changed. An evil has come to the region, and Chaos has infected the Barrows. The dead have woken and hunger for the living.
... and, according to legend, they guard the wealth of ages.
What is Barrowmaze?
Barrowmaze is a sprawling megadungeon and the centerpiece of this campaign. If you can defeat it and claim the dark artifact that lies at its heart, you win.Be warned: Barrowmaze isn't just a cavern or lair. It's an ecosystem that shifts, changes, and adapts to your actions. To defeat it, you will need to learn its secrets and face its dangers.
Barrowmaze is huge but it's more than just a dungeon with many rooms. Its history has shaped its regions and some of the monsters within have settled into factions. A savvy adventuring party will learn from their explorations to improve their odds of success.
There are dozens of entry points in the Barrowmounds, a few of which lead directly to some of the deadliest areas of the dungeon. Fair? Not remotely. Forget balanced encounters. In Barrowmaze, survival is your responsibility.In Barrowmaze, you'll need to manage time and resources or risk becoming lost in the dark. The halls are filled with deadly traps. Monsters will be hunting you as you explore, and you'll need to weigh your options at every turn. Attempting to sleep in the dungeon might not be the best idea.
Undead hordes? Barrowmaze has them. Bottomless pits in the middle of random hallways? Yes. Green slime and other old-school dungeon hazards? Absolutely. If you don't know the lost art of the dungeon crawl, you're about to learn it.
Back to Basics
We will play this campaign using the Basic Fantasy RPG system, which is very similar to B/X Dungeons and Dragons. BFRPG, however, offers more character options and some quality-of-life improvements, like ascending AC. The Basic Fantasy Core Rule Book is available as a free download from the BFRPG site, as are all the rule options and character classes we'll use in this campaign.
It is unnecessary to have experience with older editions of D&D to play. If you've been curious about them or the OSR movement, this is an excellent opportunity to see what they are all about.
Death Is No Escape
Lose a character? No problem! This particular campaign features a unique mechanic for leveling up players in addition to their characters. Players will level up whether their character meets with success or a grisly demise. These player levels offer new character options, free experience points, treasure, and other advantages.
Of course, you can only use your levels if your character meets their fate. Luckily, making a new Basic Fantasy character only takes a few minutes.
Get Ready to Become a Permanent Resident
I'm looking for 4 - 6 players who can post several times weekly. While this campaign will feature combat and exploration, there will be opportunities for role-playing during and between expeditions and while carousing back in town.
Do you want to know more about what to expect in this campaign? Be sure to watch the Barrowmaze Trailer.
Anyone up for a challenge is welcome.
- Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game
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- Mutants & Masterminds 3e
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- Pathfinder 2e
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Wolves amongst sheep (Ad Eva 2.5)
What is Evangelion? What is AdEva2.5?
Evangelion is a very popular anime/manga that follows a group of pilots (and their operations director) in fighting against creature of absurd power, known as Angels in the show, but renamed Entities within our game.
AdEva2.5 is a fan made system based off of Dark Hersey 1e, the system captures the spirit of Evangelion very well in my eyes. That is, fighting overly powerful monsters (almost every Entity fight is a boss fight) while also giving a lot of room for role-playing the (very likely) mental degradation of your characters.
What is going on?
I have been running an AdEva 2.5 game here for just under three months with a group of four players, who have just come out of their first fight again an Entity, they might be a little battered and bruised...One more than others.
So far the posting has been great, but for the sake of future proofing we will be recruiting one more pilot. Taking us to a total of five players.
During the combat, we were roughly achieving a full round every 24-48 hours, or just shy of it. Outside of combat we are getting a post from everyone every 2-3 days. This is a posting we would like to maintain, if you don't think you can post once every two-three days then please do not apply.
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Within this game the players act as pilots for NERV, while also being spies for their 'parent agency', attempting to gain information about a NERV project known as ‘Red Kite.’ The players are all working for the same ‘team’, despite being from different nations, their spy work is controlled by an individual simply known as ‘the handler.’
The Setting
We are in what would be called an ‘alternate reality’, this game is loosely based on Evangelion, though is far enough away for expectations to be messed with. For example, there are multiple 'classes' of mech, multiple NERV bases and a variety of different 'code' Entities (not just Blue, as with the anime).
All pilots have recently joined NERV – London, one of the four established NERV bases throughout the world.
Roughly ten years ago the Androsk asteroid tore through the sky and smashed into the north pole, obliterating the ice caps and flooding much of the world. The arrival of this asteroid was not a surprise, months prior news articles were released with people debating its severity. When people finally decided it required urgent action it was already too late to do anything.
Three years after the asteroid (7 years before the game) the entities began to emerge, creatures of size and strength never seen before. When the first one appeared, it lay waste to Berlin, this was when NERV first appeared and quickly became a public name. Along with their units, the Evangelions and AEGIS.
For the last seven years NERV have worked outside of any one country’s control, but funded by almost every remaining country of note. They are the defenders and researchers of these Entities, without NERV life would have ended seven years ago.
Mechanics of the game
For this game you will want access to the Dark Heresy 1e rule book, and then access to the ‘Adeptus Evangelion 2.5 - Operations Manual’ which will cover all the main rules for players. The AdEva2.5 book can be found free online, however do not get the ‘DM guide’ known as ‘Cruel Thesis’. If you have trouble finding the Operations manual let me know and I can help direct you.
Unlike most Eva game we will be revolving around 3 main ‘elements of play’;
1) Combat – Big boss fights against Entities. See this thread for an example of combat.
2) Intrigue – I (or the players) will develop and put forward missions, normally to find information or uncover something (or perhaps a plot element from your history). The current ‘main’ mission is to discover any information on the ‘Red Kite’ project. This could be social engineering, hacking etc...Players are given freedom, there is information out there try and find it.
3) "Dungeon delving" – Though not done yet, the characters will be going through person scale combat. You are welcome to picture a 13 year old running around with an AK. Character development is being house ruled to provide characters with ‘adequate’ skills, though this is currently not shared.
Existing team
We currently have a total of four players.
For the most part information about each character is secret, the applications themselves are in private threads. Players, and characters, find out about each other by witnessing it first hand in game. Some mechanics are revealed OOC, if fitting and agreed by me.
Serena Silver (Operations director) - a well decorated veteran with a bit of a temper, but hopefully a heart of gold.
Anya (Pilots RX - 0, Skirmisher) – 13-year-old German girl trained from a young age for this line of work, though never learnt to not be so self-critical.
Zelda (Pilots Unit -17, Skirmisher) – A bit rough around the edges, this 16-year-old British girl never trained like Anya to be a pilot. She was just born skilled at it.
Emiko (Pilots Amaterasu, AT-tactician)– A smart 15 year old girl from Japan, set foot in England and on the same day was nearly cooked alive by an Entity.
Application
For the application process you need to follow these easy steps;
The due date for applications is the 5th of Jan. However if applications slow down, or I see a perfect application, I will end this early.
See details for character creation, here.
1) Make a private thread in the OOC area.
2) Write up basic information on your character, name, description, personality etc.
3) Write up a brief bit of history covering on how they ended up in NERV and being a Spy. Make it clear who are they spying for, can be a country or a made up organization?
4) Write up some basics on the mechanics, you don’t need to do all mechanics if you don’t want. But I want to know what career/class you are picking, and what sort of ‘build’ you are thinking.
a. Note – The Skirmisher career is not being accepted.
b. If you want to do a full build you have 800XP total for character creation.
- Dark Heresy
- closes January 5
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Call of the Netherdeep
Long ago, a war between gods of good and evil scoured the surface of the world of Exandria. Both the noble Prime Deities and the selfish Betrayer Gods imbued their mortal champions with supernatural gifts that granted them strength enough to challenge their divine foes. The greatest of these champions was Alyxian the Apotheon, who received the blessings of three Prime Deities to save the world from the apocalyptic power of the Betrayer Gods.
Centuries later, all knowledge of this godlike hero has been lost to time, and two groups of adventurers are called upon to retrace this mythic hero's steps and free him from his timeless prison.- D&D 5e
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The Realm Folded Tavern (RFT)
The doors of the Realm Folded Tavern are always open to those adventurers who seek it out!
The RFT is a D&D 3.5E community where participants take part in, and hopefully also run their own, missions and adventures of all lengths and concepts. It is not an 'anything goes' game, but we are pretty liberal in our character building limitations. There is no PVP in the Tavern itself, and it is frowned upon in missions; but if you want to test your skills we have an Arena too.The OGMW RFT ran for over 8 years, with hundreds of players and characters over its life, and we have now moved everything to the new RFT here on the new MW site.
Read the character guidelines, submit something for approval, maybe even offer to run a mission or two.
Fun and adventure awaits you at the Realm Folded Tavern!
- D&D 3.5e
- closes December 31
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Savage Sword and Sandals
It has been generations since the palace culture of the Old Age fell. The tiny settlement of Micropolis still maintains its fragile democracy, but is heavily taxed by the Snake Prefect, the tyrant of nearby Miletus. The Prefect and his minions are half-human, serpent-skinned monsters, immune to most diseases and hard to kill. Most observers believe their foul forms to be a curse for some infraction against the gods. But the serpentmen consider themselves superior, transformed beings, more fit to survive in the present cruel age than luckless mortals.
Micropolis’s Assembly has called for an expedition to better understand the tyrant who oppresses them. A party of likely younger citizens is assembled —those brave and promising enough to earn the commission of the people and the favor of the Gods.
Characters belong to a mixed Mycenaean/ Lydian culture. Typical names might include (Mycenaean) Akilles, Aiwax, Sarpedon, Protosileus, Helen, Clete, Penelope, (Lydian) Kroseus, Agron, Manses, Lydus, etc.
Character concepts might include any of the following (though new suggestions welcomed):
· A tough Greek Dark Age protagonist such as a bandit, mercenary, escaped slave, thief, warrior, or gladiator (last not v Mycenaean, but local baddies hold brutal travesties of the old Games).
· A zero to hero goatherd, ploughboy or oarsman, gradually rising to new challenges.
· One or two more exalted types such as an athlete, harpist, physician or priest
· An Egyptian, Cretan, Hittite, Amazon mercenary or merchant who has joined the party.
· A mighty descendant of Hercules or Ares (or so they believe), a mattock wielding, animal skin wearing hulk.
· An Atlantean psionic, descendant of a psychically gifted race (see edge below).
Starting funds are only 2d6*10 bronze arrowheads, reflecting the impoverishment of the age. Use the setting specific lists attached for a description of currency and gear.
Languages and literacy: Apart from Koine (a common Mycenaen Greek language) your character knows one additional language for each die of Smarts. Locally useful languages include Old Mycenaean (used for ballads, prayers, spells, oratory and such), Islander (Aegean trade lingo) and Lydian (native local language).
Foreign languages include Minoan (Cretan), Egyptian, Lydian and Hittite.
Literacy in the old Linear B script counts as a language spend and requires SMA d6+.
Use whatever tools are helpful to create your character, but please present your application in the form of a short block entry with some concept blurb.
House Rules
Bennies are called Favors, representing the characters’ belief in the providence of the Gods and fate.
Slightly gritty soak rule: characters cannot roll a soak if a blow has incapacitated them (taken them beyond 3 wounds).
Characters gain a +1 when speaking those of similar profession or background (+2 if there is a strong connection). Everyone is responsible for investigative and social interaction.
Since this an online game I may not always use the card initiative system, instead assigning party initiative or using character’s SMA/AGI to determine order.
Please don’t pick edges that refer to card draws (see last point),or (like First Strike) require reference to turn order or a battle map to determine exact positions.
Setting Edges:
Athlete. N, STR, SPI and AGI all d6. The gymnasium-built character gains +1 on running, jumping, swimming and throwing. For a Favor, they may roll for these activities at the next higher die type with the same bonus. Such feats have the effect of entertaining or impressing spectators who still retain some value in the old Games.
Arcane Background (Atlantean). N. Smarts d6, Spirit d6. The only starting AB in the setting. You are descended from the psychically gifted refugees of already lost Atlantis. Use Smarts to perform low level psychic feats, with a success indicating a weak effect and shifts indicating more decisive outcomes. Powers include reading surface thoughts and influencing weaker minded individuals (‘this is not the mechanical owl you are looking for’). TN is target’s Smarts. You can also send thoughts to a recipient able to make a TN6 Smarts roll to ‘hear’ them (each raise on the sender’s roll reduces the TN by 1). Small objects can be moved using telekinesis. For a Favor or two, you can boost these effects or use stronger powers like clairvoyance.
Bronze Destroyer: N, fighting d8, STR d6, uses bronze weapon that does 1d6+ damage. Once per combat (up to three times if a Favor is spent), your attack breaks an opponent’s non-bronze shield or weapon when you deal enough damage to shake them.
Rock Slayer. N. REQS STR d8, Athletics d6. The character can lift and hurl heavy rocks (or tables, market stalls, carts, etc.), with a round needed to lift the item then hurl at a single target for three STR dice damage.
Dark Ages Survivor N, Spirit d6, Sma d6. For the purposes of foraging and survival, character can use Smarts for healing, notice and survival. If any skill is higher than their Smarts, gain a +1 to the roll.
Dog Boy/Girl. N. Spirit d6. If the player is willing to make additional rolls themselves during combat, they may be accompanied by a fierce, loyal dog. AGI d8, SMA (A) d6, SPI d6, STR d4, VIG d6; Fighting d6, Notice d10, excellent scent, damage d4+ STR, SA: go for the heels. If the dog is incapacitated, it will usually recover between adventures. If killed, a replacement will appear in the same interval.
Legendary Hide: N, STR d6 and VIG d6. Character inherits the skin of a legendary bear/ lion/ wolf/ etc. from a vigorous ancestor. The garment needs to be named (e.g. ‘Hide of the Lydian Bull’). If worn in place of other armor, it affords an unusual +3 to Toughness and does not seriously impede motion.
Musician. N. Smarts, AGI and SPI all d6. The lyrist, flute-player, drummer, etc. is able to please crowds typically starved of entertainment, rolling either AGI, SPI or persuade to determine effect. Can busk 3 ah for each success and shift on a daily roll.
Philosopher: N. SMA d8. In an ignorant age, the character possesses fragments of the old world’s wisdom. Gains +1 to CK rolls on almost any subject, using an encyclopaedic memory. Gains +1 to persuade rolls concerning moral courses of action.
Priest/priestess: N. SMA d6, SPI d6, one at d8. It is unclear in the setting whether the Gods objectively exist, but people’s belief in them remains strong. If the priest rolls at least one raise when persuading, their targets may perceive them as having a divine aura (or majestic voice, halo, etc). Those healed with a success or raise may perceive the effect of healing as miraculously fast. In both cases, the effect of the roll is boosted by a further raise if no other Edges are in play. Skeptics are unaffected by these effects.
Hindrances:
Carouser (minor, major): you tend to spend a lot on carousing between adventures, purchasing wine costing at least an ah a day (more if your character is in funds). As a major hindrance, you drink wine unmixed with water, even during adventures, requiring a VIG check to start a day’s adventure without a -1 (‘til noon) penalty.
Helot (minor, major): You are from a disenfranchised, pauper clan. Start with half starting funds, and maintain a deference (and/or mild resentment) of your betters. If major, you contest the commands/persuasions of well born individuals at -1.
Ignorant (minor): CK rolls at -1. You know one less language than your SMA confers and cannot learn to read.
Comic relief (major): whenever your character fails decisively they tend to mess up badly, causing a comic effect that earns the derision of friends and foe alike. If the player can describe an especially amusing and/or calamitous outcome they will gain a Favor at GM’s discretion.
Superstitious (minor/major): -1/-2 to fear effects caused by encounters or situations that feel supernatural or weird.
Skeptic (major); you do not believe that the gods exist, or worse, that they have abandoned humanity. You receive no benefits from the encouragements of priest characters (see above) or from benefits conferred by apparently supernatural events. Your impiety appears offensive –and dangerous--to many.
……………………………..
- Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (SWADE)
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Fast Times at Fortuna High
Fast Times at Fortuna High will use the Kids on Brooms TTRPG system--a spinoff of Kids on Bikes--to tell a story about a group of inexperienced teachers faced with the sudden disappearance of the senior faculty of their magical school. It will be set in a world much like our own, albeit with a few key differences. For example, World Wrestling Entertainment went out of business in the mid-2000s, Disney scrapped its planned Star Wars sequel trilogy... oh, and superheroes exist. It's sharing a world with an ongoing MASKS game, and characters and events may sometimes cross over.
We're hoping to find a couple of players looking to become borderline obsessive about a group of young professionals who are in way over their heads and to tell a collaborative story where dice are rolled occasionally. Once we're rolling, the game's post rate will likely be fairly intense by PBP standards: potentially as high as a post per day or even more. (We're an enthusiastic bunch of weirdos.) I can't guarantee that sort of post rate, but it's been known to happen. If this sounds enticing instead of like a huge, obnoxious hassle to keep up with, here are the application instructions.
As far as tone and content: think Abbot Elementary, Cobra Kai, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the Dresden Files, and the later Harry Potter books. We're aiming for an adult-oriented workplace comedy that occasionally dips into more serious fantasy drama. Cursing and adult subject matter are fine within the boundaries of MythWeaver's rules and what everyone's comfortable with.
We'll be primarily using Discord to communicate OOC.
If you have any questions, please feel welcome to DM me!- Miscellaneous
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Kindled Magic, transferring from OGMW
Rerecruiting!
Looking for one or two people to join Kindled Magic, the first of the Strength of Thousands series.
Group B would likely benefit from a healer of some kind.
Group A might have space for another character.
Pathfinder 2e. They are currently level 3.
Game Description
The Strength of Thousands Adventure Path begins as the player characters arrive at the Magaambya at the heart of the cosmopolitan city of Nantambu. This academy of magic will be the heroes’ home throughout their adventures. Although they must remain close to the Magaambya at first to learn their initial lessons, they will soon venture far from the campus and gain greater and greater responsibilities.
Prospective students come from all over the world to study at the Magaambya, so it’s unlikely that the heroes knew each other before arriving here—but they might! Incoming students are grouped together in a cohort to support and learn from each other throughout their education. The heroes constitute one of these cohorts, and are thus expected to spend much of their time together. A cohort works best when its members have a wide variety of specializations and interests. Rather than a typical “adventuring party,” the heroes of the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path are a cohort of diverse and dedicated students.
The Magaambya is focused on gathering knowledge and using it to become wardens of the world. The school’s overall alignment is neutral good. This doesn’t mean the heroes must be neutral good, but they’ll be part of this organization and will be undertaking missions that advance its interests, so evil heroes will find themselves to be a poor fit. Knowledge seekers come in all types, though, so characters of any alignment are permitted.
Classes
This campaign focuses on a magical school, but that doesn’t mean everyone has to play a spellcaster! Members of any class will have plenty of moments to shine in the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path. There will definitely be moments of danger where having a dedicated warrior, such as a fighter, monk, or swashbuckler, will prove vital. Rangers will have opportunities to shine when traveling through wilderness or exploring old ruins, and the keen eye for detail that a rogue or investigator can provide will be very useful.
Spellcasting for Everyone
Even though any class works well in the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path, a campaign where students attend a magic school wouldn’t seem very magical unless all the heroes can cast spells! Each character in this Adventure Path gains either the druid multiclass archetype or wizard multiclass archetype to reflect the primal and arcane teaching traditions of the school, respectively. Druids must select the wizard multiclass archetype and wizards must select the druid multiclass archetype, but characters of other classes can choose either. This choice is made at 2nd level, when you become an attendant of the school, so you have a little time to decide. You don’t need to meet the ability score prerequisite for your chosen archetype, but it’s a good idea to choose the druid archetype if your character’s Wisdom is higher than their Intelligence, and the wizard archetype if Intelligence is higher.
This multiclass archetype is a free archetype, as described in the Pathfinder Gamemastery Guide. Each character receives an extra class feat at 2nd level and every even-numbered level thereafter, but can only use these extra class feats on archetype feats for the multiclass archetype you chose. This free multiclass archetype doesn’t prevent you from picking up a different dedication feat; that is, you don’t need to take two feats from your chosen multiclass archetype before picking up another archetype’s dedication feat with your normal class feats, if you find an archetype that fits your character concept.
Of course, you don’t need to pick up another archetype if you don’t want to, but suitable archetypes for you to consider for your character include halcyon speaker, loremaster, Magaambyan attendant, and magic warrior.
Ancestries
The Magaambya has a startling variety of ancestries among its professors and within its student body, so there are no restrictions on character ancestries in the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path. The people of Nantambu and the Magaambya are predominantly Zenj humans, but most are worldly enough that they’ve seen, known, and worked alongside many other ancestries in the past. Lost Omens Mwangi Expanse provides information about new and existing ancestries that are more common in the region, but students at the Magaambya sometimes come from much further away. Even uncommon or rare ancestries, if permitted by your GM, are fine choices for this campaign. People at the Magaambya might be initially put off by truly weird-looking or inhuman ancestries, but they’re quick to judge people by their actions, not their looks.
Languages
The assumption of a common language is useful for any campaign, and the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path is no different. In this campaign, references to the “Common” language refer to Mwangi rather than Taldane. When you gain Common as a default starting language, consider it to be Mwangi. You can separately learn Taldane, but you won’t have a lot of use for it. Better languages to pick up include Draconic and Sylvan. People in Nantambu have a local language called Xanmba, which you might also learn.The heroes will perform best if their party contains a well-rounded selection of skills and feats. Arcana and Nature are the most important skills for success at scholastic endeavors at the Magaambya, as its focus is teaching arcane and primal traditions of magic. Religion and Occultism are also useful, as they touch on the other types of magic. Social skills such as Diplomacy, Deception, and Intimidation are useful because Magaambyans are expected to go out into the world to serve as emissaries and diplomats, and you’ll find there are a lot of conflicts that can resolved with calm words rather than swinging blades. The best Lore skills for this Adventure Path include Academia Lore, Magaambya Lore, and Nantambu Lore, but many other Lore skills might come into play. Good feats to consider include Arcane Sense, Automatic Knowledge, Canny Acumen, Quick Identification, and Recognize Spell.
Additionally, the academia rules presented in Pathfinder 169: Kindled Magic provide you with additional skills and feats based on your branch. With the skill training you’ll get from your free archetype and the academia rules, you’ll likely end up with a character who possesses a very wide range of skills—as befits a student of the world!
A Campaign Over Years
The Strength of Thousands Adventure Path is likely to span many in-game years. You might spend an entire academic semester of downtime in just a few minutes around the table, rolling checks to see what you learn, then moving ahead with the action several months later. Your academic career will last years for your character, but as a player you’ll be graduating before you know it!
Backgrounds
Heroes can select any background they choose for the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path. People come from all walks of life to join the Magaambya, after all. The Lost Omens World Guide has several suitable backgrounds for characters from the Mwangi Expanse, and if you choose the Magaambya Academic background, you’re already somewhat familiar with the school. Among the backgrounds presented in the Core Rulebook, the best choices are acolyte, emissary, herbalist, hermit, noble, or scholar.
Most prospective students come with a recommendation or sponsorship from someone who’s already affiliated with the Magaambya. You can simply decide what that is, or take one of the following new backgrounds to define the particular type of sponsorship your character has obtained. Each background also has a recommended branch, but you’re free to choose any branch you’d like.
Sponsored by Family
Sponsored by Teacher Ot
Sponsored by a Stranger
Sponsored by a Village
Unsponsored- Pathfinder 2e
- closes August 31
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- Pathfinder 2e
- closes March 31
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- Homebrew
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Redemption Redux
The most important battles a man fights, he fights alone, in the privacy of his own heart. Redemption is claimed or lost not through swords, words, or external miracles, but by the results of these battles, sometimes too small to discern.
So almost 15 years ago, I ran a fabulous unique campaign here called Redemption. I want to try again today with the same campaign, sort of.
This campaign will be different from most PbPs (just like the original campaign) because this is less a D&D campaign (even though it'll be set in the Forgotten Realms) and more a collaborative story. I'll still be the GM, but there will be less dice rolling, especially at first, and more exploring characters. We won't be eschewing dice rolling completely, but I'll let players know when dice rolling will be required.
What I am looking for:
- Players willing to go with a slower burn story and still stick around to contribute. What I mean by this is that there may be long periods of time where you are not posting because the current scene is not focused on your character, but you are still active on the OOC thread and don't ghost the campaign when it's your turn.
- Players who are committed to a long term story. I expect this will take a couple of years, and I'd love to have the same players at the end as when I began. That being said, I recognize life happens and I will have escape hatches set up, so if you need to duck out temporarily or permanently, we can do it as long as I have a little warning.
- Players who are good writers! Proper punctuation and grammar, able to do more than just a sentence or two. You will have some storytelling power to create environments and reactions from others, and we are looking for good engagement for those reading the campaign with us. Quality is more preferred than speed, though both is even better, especially in rapid fire scenes.
- Players willing to create characters who are deep and real and creative. Tropes don't need to be avoided, but the more common the trope, the better executed the character should be. I will post a list of questions I want answered for each character to help develop them in ways outside of the normal D&D style.
- Along those lines, stretch your creative muscles and don't feel constrained by many of the normal D&D rules for race or class. You might choose to be a mage but your magic works differently from normal mages or something. This isn't a contest for who can make the most OP character, just looking for fun and flavor and depth. Gimmicks won't be accepted, but unique approaches with a realistic personality attached is what I am looking for. Plan on your character's personality to develop over the course of the story. If they are the same at the end as when we started, both the player and I as the GM have failed. Let me note that I am looking for depth, not breadth, meaning I don't want a party full of crazy races (though I'm not opposed to well written characters along those lines), I want your creativity to not be limited to race/class/power styles.
- This will be a PG story - no explicit scenes of any type, though we don't have to pretend sex doesn't happen. We just don't need to see details on stage.
- This won't be an evil campaign and I definitely don't want any murderhobos. Well executed characters that might be evil but are willing to play nicely with the party might work, but edgelords of any alignment are right out.
Caveat: Writing-wise, I tend to be more of a tortoise than a hare. I'll definitely have bursts of speed at times, but I typically only have time to write during the day when I am at work in between calls. if I'm getting slammed, I have less time. Nights and weekends frequently have little to no spare time, so the story can continue within the framework I've set up, but will have to wait when I'm not at work. Same goes for holidays - you'd THINK I'd have MORE time to write when I'm off work, but that is totally not true. I might, but it's sporadic and unpredictable. That being said, I will do my best to prioritize the campaign in my offtime to keep things moving, and I am nothing if not very consistent on a daily basis. Me even posting this means I know I am committing to a long term game.
I don't have a hard start date for the campaign, but I'll tentatively say around the first of the year. I want people to have plenty of time to work up characters and run them by me with my feedback for any changes before we start.
I would enjoy having a co-GM to bounce ideas off of and help run things behind the scenes - if you are interested, let me know and we can chat about that possibility.
If you are interested in being a player, please send me a written backstory! Specifically, I want a story to see your writing skills, not just a few paragraphs. [Edit: Since I am wanting to see your writing skills, make sure you don't just give me a backstory, but you write a scene or two or an anecdote so I can get a feel for how you write, how your character feels, thinks, approaches things, etc.] I will want the following questions answered, though they don't all need to be in the written backstory - any you don't have in the backstory can be answered directly by copy/pasting into a PM. Also, DO NOT post anything beyond a basic concept for a character in this thread. I want details contained in private threads so that no one but me knows them. Feel free to put everything into a google doc and share a link with me. I'm happy to provide my email address for that purpose if you desire. Just let me know and I'll PM it to you. (I may add to this list of questions as I choose, and other DMs are free to yoink this for use in their campaigns in whole or in part.)
- Why is this character an adventurer? Adventuring is dangerous, and even downright deadly at times. Most people have no desire to risk their lives so deliberately, so any PC had better have a DARN good reason to be out risking their lives as an adventurer.
- How does your character feel about the gods and religion? Just because the gods are active doesn't require them to have faith, though religion/faith is a massive driving force for a large number of real people, so fantasy people won't be any different.
- How does your character view wealth/power/fame? Desirable? Undesirable? Why? Why not? Is it a primary goal, a secondary one, or something to be avoided? Or something more complicated?
- Where do they sit on the trust/mistrust scale with acquaintances/strangers/friends/family? Do they trust easily? Do they trust wisely or foolishly? Have they been burned by trusting poorly, and did they learn wisdom from it or did they start mistrusting everyone more?
- Related to trust is how they view relationships in general. Are they sought after or avoided? Why or why not? What benefit or threat do relationships bring to your character? I'll note that a people-hating character that cannot play nice with a party will not be accepted, though there's plenty of room for introverts and extroverts alike. In fact, tell me if they are introverts, extroverts, or ambiverts (a lot of both in different ways).
- Tell me about their family and their relationship with them, as well as any other important relationships they have (anything not in the backstory can be included as a direct answer to this question).
- Everybody has something surprising about them - some skill or knowledge or experience that would seem out of character to someone trying to pigeonhole them. What surprises does your character have?
- All people believe something that is not true, both about the world around them (“The world is a dark, hateful place, and anybody who seems happy is just faking it.”) and about themselves (“I'm a very forgiving person - these grudges I carry don't mean I don't forgive.”) What lies/untruths does your character believe about themselves and the world around them?
- Everyone also has at least one fear. It could be spiders, or it could be a fear of failure. What is your character afraid of and why?
- What really bugs your character? Pet peeves and annoyances?
- Hobbies! What does your character do for fun in their off time?
- What does the CHARACTER view as their general strengths and weaknesses? This is beyond simple class roles.
- What does he perceive his major problems to be? What does he perceive the solutions to those problems to be? Let's say, a magic wand was waved and all his problems were solved. What then? What does he really *want*? If he were totally free of his issues, would he look for love and settle down? Maybe start an art gallery? Or a focus group for paladins wrestling with their blackguard side having troubles fitting into society?
- Related to that, as the writer of your character, how accurately does your character perceive their strengths and weaknesses? What S&Ws are hidden from their view but might be plain to see to those around them?
- Give me at LEAST one good story hook to draw on for use! This should DEFINITELY be in the backstory!
- What do they see as the reason to live? Why do they do what they do? What are their core motivations? This may have been answered already by other questions, but I want this explicitly laid out. Note that THEY may not know this, but YOU should.
- What is the coolest thing about your character that you see as the creator of them? Or in other words, why should I accept them into the campaign?
I think this will be very cool and a different sort of story than typically gets told in these parts, and I am excited to see what possibilities you present! If I don't accept you as a player up front, I may still use you as a replacement if another player has to drop or as a recurring NPC along the way. No promises, but I will use all the quality I can!
I will accept no more than 6 players. We will be using 5E as the basis, but I'll houserule on stuff along the way, and at the end of the day, the story is more important than the rules. Make your characters around 5th level or so. The Forgotten Realms will be the basis of the campaign, but don't feel constrained to be FROM the FR. However, I don't plan to accept a party full of extraplanar PCs, so be cautious when choosing that path.
If you desire to work up and submit multiple characters, feel free to do so as long as the quality doesn't suffer!
Let me note that anyone who was a full player in my last run of this may NOT be a player in this one, but you are welcome to check with me behind the scenes and we may give you a recurring NPC role. 🙂 If you were a recurring NPC in the last campaign, you are free to apply as a player. (If you're not sure where you stand here, ask me and I'll clarify!)
Due to the more intensive nature and longer duration of this campaign, I fully expect all of us to become real friends IRL! Looking forward to making new friends!
Also, the original campaign was so long ago, all the threads are gone, so don't bother looking them up. 😁
Ask me if you have any questions! Let's have fun!
PS - Post in here if you have any interest so I have an idea of how many might be applying.
[Edit: As this has come up a few times, let me clarify. I am looking for depth, not breadth. The more far afield the character concept is, the better the backstory and writing need to be in order to be accepted. While I am open to odd race/class combos or ideas, the execution of that idea had better be stunningly good if they are really distant from the vanilla options. And honestly, some if the best characters are the ones with vanilla class/race combos that drive deep into fascinating personalities, like the human warrior who was small, but learned from difficult life experiences how to get up every time he was knocked down. He was never pretentious, but struggled to feel as though he belonged anywhere.
That was one of the PCs from the last campaign and he was fabulous. Depth, not breadth, but you can have breadth if your depth makes it such a compelling character that I couldn't NOT have them in the party. That being said, I won't accept too many far afield character concepts into the party - I don't want a collection of circus freaks, so to speak, as the entire party. I might accept 1, maaayyybe 2 of those types.]- D&D 5e
- closes January 1
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Polaris
Once upon a time, before knights fought with demons, before battle, before war, and before the sun, there was a great city atop the world. Built of ice and starlight, full of elegant palaces,shimmering statues, it was home to a people whose splendor we are not given to understand. Clad in starlight and snowflakes, they lived a life of bliss, eating thin delicacies, toasting each other with wine made from the night, and loving each other like the sea beneath the ice. They named their city Polaris.
One and one they saw it, only fleeting and irregular, that light coming up from the edge of the sky, colors redder than stars, new shades that had never been sees, yellow and green and golden through icicle walls, burning out the stars from the sky, brilliant and impossible and beautiful and alien.
At first it was thought to be madness, that particular sort of gentle madness, for it struck at the very best of them., and those that are the very best are shrouded in cloth and the dark heart of dreams. But if it was madness, it was a madness that spread, for more people saw, and more, so that by the time it reached the highest it had already been given a name: Dawn.
This obsession with the Dawn led to the Mistake. No one knows the truth, but everyone knows that before the Mistake, their city was perfect, their sky was dark, and the people had no fear, and that now their city is left a smoking crater, their sky is lit by the brilliant sun and haunted by a ghostly moon, and the people have learned horror, terror, and the thousand other ravages of time.
The first thing that was seen after the Mistake was the fiery sun, emerging from the dawn like a terrified scream, blinding all that saw it and burning all that it saw, deafening all that were held in its radiance. It's power is without peer. It melts snow into useless water, blasts starlight into insignificance, and curdles silk rough like leather. - Ben Jehman, Polaris
Check out the Lore forum for more info about the world, and then join the character creation discussion to start thinking about your character! This will be a classic apocalypse world game set in an icy world that is tormented by the sun every summer.
- Apocalypse World
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Break!!
Dynasty: Endless Venture 49!!
The original Dynasty was a staple franchise of the 00's. It was a 3d MMO with Roguelike elements and procedural dungeons and a solid following. It went through several editions and major updates but the servers went offline in 2015. Things have been quiet for a while but rumors of a modern update have been swirling for the last couple of years.
Today you got your Willie Wonka Golden Ticket. You received a login code and link for a beta test for fans of the game. This is the final beta before wide release and is supposed to be free of gaming journos. The betas have been closely guarded and there have suspiciously been no leaks. People speculate that it's a bad game that they don't want it known before people start putting up money for it, but the videos released for the game have been beyond spectacular. While it's possible it's another Cyberpunk 2077, it doesn't matter because you're about to find out and for free. You have an interface to generate a character and a countdown clock for when the servers go live. The question is, what kind of Living Adventure are you going to have before the MMO gets flooded by the unwashed masses?
- Break!! RPG
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- Miscellaneous