(Recruiting) Kiss of Darkness--Adventure in my Homebrew Setting

Hi everyone. This is a recruiting thread for my Kiss of Darkness game, as mentioned in my recent poll thread. You don't have to have participated in the poll to apply for this game, but if you were here first from the poll, I'm going to give you a nod up.

The game takes place in my homebrew world, which is a fairly standard fantasy setting with a few twists. At the risk of quoting myself from the last thread, Kiss of Darkness is:

Myself said:

A game that takes place in my most recent homebrew setting, it is based off a storyline rejected by WotC. It is a fairly traditional fantasy world using normal rules, and involves a good amount of exploration, mystery, roleplaying, and combat. I've playtested this one once, and the playtesters had a really great time, expanding the game from its initial scope to a huge campaign that lasted from 1st to 20th level. The main adventure involves dark cults, conspiracies, and more.

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What I will allow:

Classes-All core classes + most WotC published variant classes and new classes from other supplements + some non-WotC variant classes and new classes, but check with me if you want to use one. Also, I will allow any of my own Bard variants and Caster variants, although for the casters I created them with a different setting in mind, so they're probably weak compared to Wizards.

Races-You can play any race you want to play that exists in the region where the game takes place, and even some that don't, subject to my approval, of course, including monstrous races, and I will give it an LA (which may not be the LA given by Wizards--Whisper Gnomes, I am looking at you) and even a monster class progression so you can start at level 1. However, I reserve the right to decide what is 'within reason'. To give examples, I have allowed an Azer (who later became a blue-flamed winged azer) and a Silver Dragon cohort, but I would not suggest something overtly freakish and monstrous, nor do I allow races that are ported from other settings and have loads of special feats just for them (looking at Shifters and Warforged here).

Other Goodies from your favourite supplement: Allowed on a case-by-case basis, so ask me first. I usually say yes unless your favourite supplement is Complete Divine (or Player's Guide to Faerun, although I've ported some of the FRCS stuff into non-broken 3.5 versions myself, so ask me if you really wanted to have the flavour of something in there and not just the power) and even sometimes then I say yes, but usually not.

After much deliberation, since this game was so popular at the poll, I have decided on the following:

I will be accepting 6 to 12 players for Kiss of Darkness. I am starting out expecting one game with six players. However, if I am sufficiently impressed by the applications, and ENWorlders impress me every day with their creativity, so it probably isn't that unlikely, I am leaving the option that I will run two mirrors of this game, with four to six players per group. I know that this still isn't enough to give space to everyone, but I will definitely be allowing alternates, and people may very well drop out. If not, anyone who is an alternate in one of my games and doesn't get to play gets double-plus of a nod up when I come out with another game.


Here's how the application process is going to work:

I would like each aspiring player to post a little about themself, and I'm particularly interested in whether you can commit to 1 post a day. I will give the nod to people who do make that commitment, and I will hold you to that commitment. As Nonlethal Force pointed out on the other thread, there are those who say '1 post a day' and do just that, answering as they are needed, and there are those who post many times a day and make roleplaying opportunities for the other players as well. Please describe which of those categories fits you best, but (and this is important) be honest here because I have full respect for those players of the first sort and I am not giving an edge to the people of the second type. Then why am I asking? I'm asking because if I split this into two mirror games, I'm going to try to put the two types of people with others of the same type so the fast posters don't have to wait and the 1 per day posters won't feel rushed or stressed by the others.

Next, you can chat with me at your leisure in this thread about your character concept and I'll provide details on fluff and rulings on crunch for you. Through this process, you'll hammer out a 1st-level character for this adventure and submit that character.

Characters use the standard 4d6 drop lowest rules with hopeless characters except for one added quirk--I allow you to roll 7 times and choose 6, which means you can drop a good one to try to become hopeless if you need to (note: this is slightly different from my rules for Spelljamming games).

Hit Points are rolled, but anything below half rounded down becomes half rounded down.

Wealth is Max for Level 1

Please initialise an Invisible Castle name for your character for me to approve before you roll anything that matters for your character. We had one player who rolled until he got high stats and then pointed that one out to me, so I need to okay your Invisible Castle name before you roll stats.

I will then select the group (or groups) from among the submitted characters.


Any questions?

Oh, and here's a gratuitous map. It will become more useful when I get started talking about setting details, but it's here now

Howdy.

A little about me: I have been playing DnD and other RPGs for seven years (I just did the math, it feels so much less than that), I have been running games for six. I have been doing PbP on EN World for a few months. I try to post when I feel the storyline would be moved along by me posting, I may post several times a day or none at all as necessary for the game.

Questions: What's the climate, government/power structures, economy of the region? As far as the standard races what are the cultures like, racial histories, relations, etc.? Alignments allowed? That should cover it for now though answers do breed questions.

I try to post when I feel the storyline would be moved along by me posting, I may post several times a day or none at all as necessary for the game.

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Sure, one post per day generally implies at least one post per day when your character has something to do (particularly important for combat!)

Questions: What's the climate, government/power structures, economy of the region? As far as the standard races what are the cultures like, racial histories, relations, etc.? Alignments allowed? That should cover it for now though answers do breed questions.

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Actually, I was going to get to some of that info (and more besides), but I wasn't sure if I have time to type it all up. By picking those questions out in specific, I can definitely answer them:

Climate--Sundaria is temperate plains. I cut off the map just on the edge of the southern rainforest, the western mountains, the southeastern inland sea, and the eastern forest, though.

Government--Sundaria is a monarchy ruled by the Aureolus family. There is a council of merchant-lords as well as another of landed aristocracy, but they merely advise the king. There are several other important kingdoms, countries, and such, but the adventure starts in Sundaria.

Economy--Much of Sundaria's wealth comes from trade among the kingdom itself and with its neighbours, as well as from taxes. There is certainly also farming and industry as well, however, particularly in some of the outlying rural areas away from the main water routes of transportation.

Core Races:

Humans--Humans come from many different places, but PC humans will probably be Sundarians. A younger race, the humans are raising new civilisations in the plains, which the other races left alone for fear of the lack of defensibility against the marauding humanoid barbarian tribes from the north.

Elves--Moon Elves (PHB elves), High Elves (yes, I know they're supposed to be the PHB elves according to the MM 3.5, but they aren't They're the +2 Int -2 Con kind), and Forest Elves lives in the arboreal elven city in the eastern forest. Tribes of Wild Elves dare to make their home on the fringes southern jungle. There is one known Star Elf (+2 Cha -2 Con) in the elven city, but let me know if anyone wants to play one. A few elves also live in human lands, but they are rare. The elven histories are shrouded in mystery and kept by the Council of High Mages, and no one really knows of the Wild Elves's past, but their legends speak of a time when they lived in a flourishing Golden Age...

Dwarves--Many dwarves live in a subterranean kingdom under the mountains of the Dragonjaw Peaks. Over the years, they have fought many battles against the creatures who dwell in the subterranean depths. There are also a good number of dwarves who have taken up living aboveground in human kingdoms, far more than elves, often acting as smiths and craftsmen.

Gnomes--The gnomes are dangerous manipulators and illusionists who left the human lands last of all the other races, fleeing across the inland sea to a new island home, which they subsequently shrouded in so many wards and veils of illusion that no one has ever been able to find it. Gnomes are virtually unseen by the outside world except at a special trading town on a smaller island in the sea, where they barter for their rare and exotic goods and then vanish back into the mists of the Sea of Remorse.

Halflings--Halflings are to be found ubiquitously throughout human societies as well as in travelling caravans that move throughout human lands. Halflings are generally viewed highly and suspiciously at the same time, as they have dual reputations of stout, honest folk and of notorious rogues.

Other Races--Ask about any race, and I'll expound upon them

I'd like to have a crack if the opportunity arises.

Currently have 2 PbP games I play in on these boards (one has stalled for the last couple of months though). And I also have a long running (11 years) PbEM game I play in.

I usually check the boards several times per day to see what is going on. And while I'll post when necessary, I also post on occasions where a good RP opporunity presents (but not just for the sake of it).

As for a character concept, probably a human or half-orc Monk, blending some of the old Oriental Adventures and optional (Arcana Unearthed or Unearthed Arcana?) rules from the SRD. Nothing too fancy, but just good fun.

As for a character concept, probably a human or half-orc Monk, blending some of the old Oriental Adventures and optional (Arcana Unearthed or Unearthed Arcana?) rules from the SRD. Nothing too fancy, but just good fun.

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Sounds cool--Between the two Arcana books, you probably mean Unearthed Arcana As for Oriental Adventures, I'd be careful since it is 3.0, but I do allow some of it. Also important to note is that while there is an area of the game world with an oriental feel, characters don't come from that area, so anything taking from OA would need to be the stuff that is light on the Oriental part (and there's several good candidates in combat feats, though some have since been ported to Complete Warrior)

Shalom/Hi

I'm Roy, 27.
playing since I was 13, I Dm alot, although right now my table game is empty and I play only here. Greyhawk and Ravenloft are heavily loaded in my resume.
as for posting, most of the time I can post once or twice a day. but usually I post when I want my character to say something.

I have some idea for a character -
Albino goblin Warlock (complete arcane), thrown by his tribe and believed to be cursed, he is chaotic neutral.
Raised in human cities, he lived in sewers and alleys with bums and beggars, he practiced his super natural powers, now he feels he can wield the power to revenge those who throw him away, he learned that humans and demi-humans can be good and he accept their friendship.

This is the basic concept, I can develop it more later.

Rystil Arden said:

Sounds cool--Between the two Arcana books, you probably mean Unearthed Arcana As for Oriental Adventures, I'd be careful since it is 3.0, but I do allow some of it. Also important to note is that while there is an area of the game world with an oriental feel, characters don't come from that area, so anything taking from OA would need to be the stuff that is light on the Oriental part (and there's several good candidates in combat feats, though some have since been ported to Complete Warrior)

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Noted. I'll assume nothing and double check everything with you before finalising. Assuming I get a place, of course.

I always try to get in my combat posts daily, or more if possible.

I may have something brewing in the recesses of my mind. What are orcs like? Fairly standard or do they actually have something of a culture, what's their position in the world, so on and so forth? This particular concept may not go anywhere but it will get some more detail and possbily openup a solid character concept.

Strahd_Von_Zarovich said:

Shalom/Hi

I'm Roy, 27.
playing since I was 13, I Dm alot, although right now my table game is empty and I play only here. Greyhawk and Ravenloft are heavily loaded in my resume.
as for posting, most of the time I can post once or twice a day. but usually I post when I want my character to say something.

I have some idea for a character -
Albino goblin Warlock (complete arcane), thrown by his tribe and believed to be cursed, he is chaotic neutral.
Raised in human cities, he lived in sewers and alleys with bums and beggars, he practiced his super natural powers, now he feels he can wield the power to revenge those who throw him away, he learned that humans and demi-humans can be good and he accept their friendship.

This is the basic concept, I can develop it more later.

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Sounds like an interesting character. I do allow Warlocks, and assuming the albino is just for flavour and the character has normal goblin stats, I allow them as well.

Legildur said:

Noted. I'll assume nothing and double check everything with you before finalising. Assuming I get a place, of course.

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That's cool--if you want to ask about particular feats, I'd be glad to make quick rulings on them (although I don't have OA on me until next week, so I may need to prompt for a memory-jogger on those feats).