[4e] New to PBP? Can't find a game? (Recruitment on hold)
(Intro post adapted from Insight's 'Giants' game. Thanks for the format, Insight.)
Brief
This is a play-by-post game to be run on the EN World boards for players new to pbp or folks who are in just a couple games. It will use the D&D 4th edition rules.
Anyone who's a PBP veteran will get bumped in order to include new folks.
On the Setting
This is a Points of Light setting in a world of my own devising based on my interests and the interests of my players.
Creation
Aerthe is both ancient and new. Spun from stuff of Chaos by gods long dead and forgotten, it has weathered ages of peace and wonder, shattering cataclysms that drained oceans and raised mountains, centuries of darkness and centuries of light.
Most recently, Aerthe has emerged from an era of cataclysm. The Primordials, ancient foes of Gods and Aerthe, descended in towering Wrath. The war shook Creation to its foundation. The Primordials gave body to their rage and created Dragons. These dragons were mad, ravening beasts, the manifest will of the raw forces of Chaos.
The Gods lost. They were destroyed. The Primordials, unchecked, ravaged Aerthe whose existence they could not abide - an affront to Elemental Chaos. The Gods, as they died, gave Names to seven Dragons. In their defeat, the Gods sowed the downfall of the Primordials.
Bahamut, Tiamat, Falak, Ishta, Saham, Murum and Ket.
The Great Dragons, made powerful by the gifts of the Gods, rose up against the Primordials and claimed Aerthe. They drove the Primordials out, Warding Aerthe against their return. But, as Dragons will, they fell to fighting amongst themselves. In the end only Bahamut and Tiamat remained. The two Great Dragons clashed and clashed, fighting for dominion one over the other. Each sought to claim the divine sparks left by the Fallen Dragons. But the foes knew each other too well. Each countered the other perfectly.
Others rose to defend Aerthe from the clashing of the Great Dragons. To bring order to the chaos and suffering that the Great Dragons (First Children of the Primordials) were inflicting on Aerthe. These became the new Gods.
The Great Dragons were lured Out and trapped within the very Ward that they created to keep the Primordials at bay. The Great Dragons were enraged. In time, Bahamut was humbled by his imprisonment and made overtures to the new Gods. Tiamat is embittered and full of Wrath, She is very much a daughter of the Primordials, and seeks to destroy the new Gods and claim their power for her own.
The new Gods are a strange cabal - they are Children of the Old Gods, Children of the Great Dragons and thus also Children the Primordials. They are far weaker than their forbears, having invested a significant amount of their combined power in the imprisonment of the Great Dragons and in Aerthe itself. But they are still Gods.
Deity List TBD.
Starting Region
Keshet Gem of the West
The Pharaoh Maharehet VII (Long may He reign) sits the Serpent Throne along the Great River Gahal. His kingdom is surrounded by rocky badlands, deserts, mountains and the sea. The Great River Gahal that flows from through Pharaoh's lands and is the lifeblood of the Kingdom.
Pharaoh Maharehet VII (Long may He reign), after mastering the Throne, has presided over a bloody decade of wars against the orc nations of Ghum, Drisluth and Hataka. The spoils of these wars have been scant, but the lands conquered have given Keshet a new trade route to the south and the new markets and new goods have made Keshet fat.
Races
Common
Humans make up the vast, vast majority of Keshet's population. It's hard to know for sure, but well in excess of 80% and possibly as much as 90%.
Humans
Uncommon
Uncommon races are those 'common' enough to have small communities in the great cities of Keshet. These uncommon races are from nearby nations or are from Keshet itself.
Rare
The Rare races are a variety of peoples. Most are civilized, but are from lands far from Keshet or very small populations within Keshet that are (not that He'd admit it) outside the power of the Pharaoh.
Known The known races are from other planes, or lands so distant they are almost never seen (but are known through rumors and legends) or are long-time enemies of Keshet and Pharaoh. Some are just vermin whose extermination the Pharoah has not seen to.
Opinion
The nation of Keshet is hardly monolithic in its opinions, but prevailing sentiments are...
Revered - a figure of awe, generally because of some divine link Valued - useful to Keshet in some way Feared - threatening to Keshet in some way Despised - threatening to Keshet in a way that elicits strong responses
On Character Creation
I like characters that have a spark of life, a history, families, dreams, regrets.
1st Level. No gear. Anything in the Character Builder is allowed.
On Posting
I expect to be able to post as frequently as every other day, sometimes more frequently. I expect anyone playing in this game to do the same. What bogs down PbP games the most is someone not posting for a few days or a week at a time. If you cannot commit to posting at least, say, four times a week, please do not submit a character.
In combat, I will roll initiative for all combatants.
If we have a player who falls behind in responding, I will take the initiative to NPC that character. If this lasts more than a week with no notice from the player, that player will be dropped and we will re-recruit that slot.
The Group
KarinsDad
okdaddio
Walking Dad
Pangalin
lotuseater
Alternates
Keia
garyh
Last edited by Sparky; 8th October 2009 at 01:18 AM..
You might want to consider changing it to "open to anyone not currently in a PBP game with a priority for brand new PBP players" if you do not have a lot of interest within a week.
You might have a hard time finding 4 or 5 brand new PBP players in a reasonable timeframe.
And since you are prioritizing this for brand new PBP players, you might want to consider setting up a good portion of the campaign world yourself instead of putting that chore on the players like experienced PBP campaign DMs might. Crawl before you walk, walk before you run, run before you jump and all that.
__________________ The first sign of a broken rule is when someone suggests that the way to stop it is by readying an action.
I'm definitely interested. I'm new to 4E, just getting back into D&D after a long hiatus, and have no hope of finding a local group. This PBP seems perfect for me.
I run a 4E PBP as DM on another forum, but I've been looking for a chance to play from the other side of the DM's screen for a while now and this seems like just the thing. While my responsibility to my own players has to come first I shouldn't have any problem stopping by 4 times a week.
I don't know if "DMs but never actually gets to play" counts as "veteran" or not.
i am very interested as well. i am not in any games at the moment. a couple years back, i was in a couple games, but the enworld site got blocked where i live (china) and i could not access it for a while. i avoided starting any new games after the site came back because i was worried about having to drop out again but it seems that hasn't been an issue for a while now. plus, i know some other options for getting into blocked sites now.
as for the type of campaign, i vote for 1st level start, especially as this will fit with the theme of new players. i'm fine with any setting, but i prefer parties that have some reason for adventuring together other than just, we were all sitting in a tavern. (just my 2 cents)
should we start posting character proposals, or wait for you to give us some more specific guidelines?
__________________ "Every man is as Heaven made him, and sometimes a great deal worse."
-Don Quixote
One thing to point out to newcomers is the Living Worlds. The first is a community developed campaign setting, the second is 4e in Eberron. Both are always taking new players, drop by the areas if you are looking for more info.
Actually, I was looking at DMing at L4W the other day.
------
HOW NEW ARE YOU? Take a look at the following and post a reply with all of the statements that apply to you as a player.
NOTE: This is about any PbP, not just EN World 4th Ed.
The Past
-- I have never played in a PbP game.
-- I have only played in a few PbP games.
-- I have played in a lot of PbP games.
-- I have played in a ton of PbP games. Servers groan under the weight of my archived prose.
-- I have never been through PbP recruitment.
-- I have been through PbP recruitment and have gotten selected.
-- I have been through PbP recruitment, but have never gotten selected.
The Present
-- I am not currently in a PbP game.
-- I am currently in an active PbP game.
-- I am currently in a couple active PbP games.
-- I am currently in several active PbP games.
-- I've lost count of the active PbP games in which I play.
On Character Creation
Character creation rules are TBD depending on what the players want to play (outdoors, dungeon romp, 1st level starts, etc).
My preference is to have a small town home base, clean up the local problems at low level, then start traveling further (i.e. exploration scenarios) on route to dungeon settings. I especially like really nasty evil BBEG dungeon settings (i.e. it doesn't have to be a dungeon, it could be anything, just the home location of the BBEG) where the entire goal is to stop the BBEG before he can do x, y, or z. And I prefer BBEGs to typically be extremely intelligent and capable where we have to sometimes overcome more obstacles to defeat them than just wading in with swords drawn. Their goal should be to kill the PCs and that cannot be accomplished by having 5 NPCs in 10 rooms each where the PCs fight them 5 on 5 in each room.
I also prefer to build up the home base as opposed to moving to other areas permanently since it allows for long term RPing opportunities with a group of locals.
__________________ The first sign of a broken rule is when someone suggests that the way to stop it is by readying an action.
The Past
-- I have never played in a PbP game.
-- I have only played in a few PbP games. XX I have played in a lot of PbP games.- sadly most of those are years ago . . . and maybe the servers even squeeked a bit back then
-- I have played in a ton of PbP games. Servers groan under the weight of my archived prose.
-- I have never been through PbP recruitment. XX I have been through PbP recruitment and have gotten selected. - back in the day . . . pretty dry recently
-- I have been through PbP recruitment, but have never gotten selected.
The Present
-- I am not currently in a PbP game.
-- I am currently in an active PbP game. XX I am currently in a couple active PbP games. (two of Voda Vosa's games, two on pbphouse)
-- I am currently in several active PbP games.
-- I've lost count of the active PbP games in which I play.
I went ahead and made some selections noted in the OP. I think it might have been premature, so I'll wait until everyone has answered 'HOW NEW ARE YOU?' before finalizing the list 100%.
Keia and garyh, you're my alternates, but I'd like you to participate in character creation and campaign building so that in the event you need to step in, you'll be up to speed.
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