Jack Daniel
dice-universe.blogspot.com
Recruitment is presently closed for the Goblin's Lair campaign, a trilogy of old-school adventure modules which run from 1st to 5th level.
This campaign will use the Labyrinth Lord (i.e. Basic/Expert) game rules and the Engines & Empires campaign setting.
Download the core rules here >> Labyrinth Lord (zipped PDF file, 5.7 MB)
Download the campaign setting here >> Engines & Empires (PDF file, 8.4 MB)
Character Creation
The first chapter of the E&E campaign guide outlines character creation for the setting in detail. Here's a quick step-by-step rundown:
(1) Once you offer to join the game, I will post three separate sets of pre-rolled ability scores on this thread. Select the set of scores that you like best and then choose from one of the fifteen character classes available in the E&E setting (fighter, mage, scholar, expert, boxer, tech, elf, dwarf, gnome, halfling, fay, centuar, faun, merrow, or sylph).
(2) Choose either Lawful or Neutral for your alignment. This particular campaign will run smoother without Chaotics, so I'm disallowing them.
(3) Allocate your trained skills. In the E&E setting, there are twelve skills to choose from (Athletics, Civics, Craft, Diplomacy, Entertain, Knowledge, Medicine, Outdoors, Perception, Pilot, Stealth, and Trade). Most characters begin the game with (3 + Int mod) trained skills. Expert, halfling, and faun characters receive three bonus skill slots, so they begin with (6 + Int mod) trained skills.
(4) If you are playing a tech or a gnome, you must decide whether your character will begin the game specialized in biology/medicine, chemistry/metallurgy, or physics/mechanics.
(5) To keep character creation as simple as possible, every character will start with a standard equipment package appropriate to their class. Any desired changes to equipment can be handled in-game.
A Note Regarding Combat
Pretty much every play-by-post game that I have ever participated in has fallen apart in short order, due to the tedium of running combat encounters by post. To avoid this, I will not be adjudicating battles from round to round. Instead, I will ask that when a fight breaks out, players describe their characters' intentions and tactics in the broadest terms possible. I will then run the combat myself, controlling both the PCs and the monsters/NPCs. If a combat lasts for more than six rounds, I will pause at that point to ask players if they wish to update their tactics for the next six rounds of combat.
In running the game this way, I will assume that every player characters' primary goal in combat is to survive the encounter. To that end, I will always give the PCs the benefit of the doubt. Likewise, I won't expend any characters' spells or items unless the player says to do so when the fight breaks out. Your declaration of tactics could be as simple as, "I run at the orcs and engage in melee until they're all dead or we have to run away"; or it could be as complex as, "I try to shoot my crossbow for the first two rounds, and then if any monsters are still left standing, I let loose my magic missile spell. If any character falls under half HP, I go ahead use my potion of healing on them." But I'll always assume that your characters aren't taking any foolish risks, and that they'll put safety first. Unless you say otherwise, of course, e.g. "I defend this doorway to cover my allies' retreat, at all costs!"
A Final Word
Too often, I have tried to run PBP games, only to have players drop off the face of the earth with nary a goodbye. So, I must ask, if you join the game and then decide to leave it, please, PLEASE post something to say so! I promise to extend the same courtesy, should I ever have to cancel the campaign for some reason.
This game will begin as soon as four players have finished creating their characters, but I can handle as many as six PCs, should there be so many requests to join. In any case, recruitment will end on 1st November.
This campaign will use the Labyrinth Lord (i.e. Basic/Expert) game rules and the Engines & Empires campaign setting.
Download the core rules here >> Labyrinth Lord (zipped PDF file, 5.7 MB)
Download the campaign setting here >> Engines & Empires (PDF file, 8.4 MB)
Character Creation
The first chapter of the E&E campaign guide outlines character creation for the setting in detail. Here's a quick step-by-step rundown:
(1) Once you offer to join the game, I will post three separate sets of pre-rolled ability scores on this thread. Select the set of scores that you like best and then choose from one of the fifteen character classes available in the E&E setting (fighter, mage, scholar, expert, boxer, tech, elf, dwarf, gnome, halfling, fay, centuar, faun, merrow, or sylph).
(2) Choose either Lawful or Neutral for your alignment. This particular campaign will run smoother without Chaotics, so I'm disallowing them.
(3) Allocate your trained skills. In the E&E setting, there are twelve skills to choose from (Athletics, Civics, Craft, Diplomacy, Entertain, Knowledge, Medicine, Outdoors, Perception, Pilot, Stealth, and Trade). Most characters begin the game with (3 + Int mod) trained skills. Expert, halfling, and faun characters receive three bonus skill slots, so they begin with (6 + Int mod) trained skills.
(4) If you are playing a tech or a gnome, you must decide whether your character will begin the game specialized in biology/medicine, chemistry/metallurgy, or physics/mechanics.
(5) To keep character creation as simple as possible, every character will start with a standard equipment package appropriate to their class. Any desired changes to equipment can be handled in-game.
A Note Regarding Combat
Pretty much every play-by-post game that I have ever participated in has fallen apart in short order, due to the tedium of running combat encounters by post. To avoid this, I will not be adjudicating battles from round to round. Instead, I will ask that when a fight breaks out, players describe their characters' intentions and tactics in the broadest terms possible. I will then run the combat myself, controlling both the PCs and the monsters/NPCs. If a combat lasts for more than six rounds, I will pause at that point to ask players if they wish to update their tactics for the next six rounds of combat.
In running the game this way, I will assume that every player characters' primary goal in combat is to survive the encounter. To that end, I will always give the PCs the benefit of the doubt. Likewise, I won't expend any characters' spells or items unless the player says to do so when the fight breaks out. Your declaration of tactics could be as simple as, "I run at the orcs and engage in melee until they're all dead or we have to run away"; or it could be as complex as, "I try to shoot my crossbow for the first two rounds, and then if any monsters are still left standing, I let loose my magic missile spell. If any character falls under half HP, I go ahead use my potion of healing on them." But I'll always assume that your characters aren't taking any foolish risks, and that they'll put safety first. Unless you say otherwise, of course, e.g. "I defend this doorway to cover my allies' retreat, at all costs!"
A Final Word
Too often, I have tried to run PBP games, only to have players drop off the face of the earth with nary a goodbye. So, I must ask, if you join the game and then decide to leave it, please, PLEASE post something to say so! I promise to extend the same courtesy, should I ever have to cancel the campaign for some reason.
This game will begin as soon as four players have finished creating their characters, but I can handle as many as six PCs, should there be so many requests to join. In any case, recruitment will end on 1st November.
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