airwalkrr
Adventurer
Ever since 5e was released, I have marveled at the simplicity of the game which hearkens back to the good ole days of AD&D. I have also been inspired at how it has retained the concept of player choice in development of character concept to be represented in meaningful ways. As such, it is the first edition since AD&D in which I have felt totally gung-ho about running a Greyhawk campaign (rather than trying to shoehorn things in). I am looking for some players for an old-school, sandbox-style Greyhawk campaign with a dark swords & sorcery feel to it. A place where magic spells and items are feared by the common people more often than not, where the primary incentive for the life of an adventurer is greed, and where the milieu is grim and gritty, dark and dangerous. You might be on your way to the next dungeon when suddenly you happen upon a dragon, not because it is an appropriate encounter for your level (it is not!), but because you simply happened to stumble into the dragon's domain. Likewise, you might come across a vast fortune that is virtually unprotected, not because it is appropriate wealth for your level, but because there was an undiscovered hidden treasure just waiting for someone to find it in your location.
Knowledge of the Greyhawk campaign setting is unnecessary. You will learn about the world and my interpretation of it as you play. An appreciation for the milieu I have described is more important.
I am looking for a particular sort of player. If most or all of these describe you, then you are an ideal candidate for this campaign:
Variants
Restricted Rules and Other House Rules
So, who is interested? If interested, please submit a character concept first for approval. A complete character concept includes a name, race, class, background, and a two sentence description of the character (one sentence for appearance and one for personality is plenty).
Example: Eldon Halfburrow, Halfling Rogue Criminal. Eldon has a ruddy complexion with brown hair, bushy side-burns, and a long scar on his left arm from a nasty encounter with a guard's sword. He is crafty, cunning, and always careful before heading into danger, but has a wanderlust and desire for great wealth.
Approved Character Concepts
[MENTION=6787159]Skarsgard[/MENTION]: Arion Wenter, Half-Elf Rogue Charlatan
[MENTION=552]Creamsteak[/MENTION]: Mialee of the Cards, Human Bard Entertainer (Custom Background, Playing Cards : Disguise Kit, Sleight of Hand : Acrobatics) (Custom Class Feature: Spellcasting Focus-Burnt Playing Cards)
[MENTION=6800191]Spartain104[/MENTION]: Kail Ryon, Human Monk Hermit
[MENTION=8858]hafrogman[/MENTION]: Davis Gray, Human Wizard Outlander (Custom Background, Artisan's Tools: Musical Instrument)
[MENTION=913]Schmoe[/MENTION]: Helmut Krauthammer, Human Fighter Soldier
[MENTION=36150]Herobizkit[/MENTION]: Samara Renae, Half-Elf Cleric Acolyte
Once your concept has been approved, locate the Obsidian Portal site: https://greyhawk-city-of-thieves.obsidianportal.com/ To get into the OP site you will need one of the following: 1) an OP account, 2) a Google+ account, 3) a Facebook account or 4) a Twitter account. Once you sign in to OP, go to my OP profile and send me a friend request. Then I will invite you to the campaign.
Knowledge of the Greyhawk campaign setting is unnecessary. You will learn about the world and my interpretation of it as you play. An appreciation for the milieu I have described is more important.
I am looking for a particular sort of player. If most or all of these describe you, then you are an ideal candidate for this campaign:
- Self-motivated: As DM, I will not nudge you in the "right" direction. There will not be an "overarching storyline" towards which you are headed. I will design and describe the world around you. You will have a detailed city to explore and begin your adventuring career. But it will be up to you to seek out adventuring locales by talking to NPCs, gathering rumors, hunting/purchasing treasure maps which may or may not lead anywhere, and pursue leads.
- Inquisitive: A desire to investigate and explore your surroundings is incredibly valuable. There might be a massive treasure hidden behind that statue, or there might be nothing at all. But you will not find much if you do not look for it.
- Resilient: Severe, permanent injury (lost limbs and the like) and death are natural consequences of the adventuring lifestyle. There are few retired adventurers for a reason. If your character dies or suffers any other ill fate, you will have to be able to shrug it off, and either continue playing a hampered character or retire the character and create a new one. Having the wherewithal to realize an encounter is too dangerous or that it is time to flee will often be necessary. But remember, with great risk come great rewards.
- Resourcefulness: The ability to work out puzzles, think outside the box (and I do NOT mean creating a zany, non-nonsensical character), and find solutions where there are no apparent ones is a great boon to adventuring. You will face many hurdles which may or may not have built-in means to overcome. Some may simply be impossible. The ability to recognize which is which and come up with inventive solutions will be key to success and survival.
- Old Soul: I will be utilizing the modular nature of D&D 5e to add-in rules from the DMG and restrict rules from the PH that I feel are not in the spirit of Greyhawk. That is not to say I consider the rules unbalanced, simply that they do not belong within the milieu. The changes will be simple (I won't re-write the paladin class for example), but significant. You ought to be comfortable with these house rules. A mostly complete list of the most significant rules can be found below (there are one or two others I may add).
Variants
- Crafting a Magic Item: Magic item creation is possible, but will usually require special materials (e.g. a unicorn's horn) depending on the nature of the item. Magic item creation can also be dangerous, resulting in various magical disasters or cursed items if a formula is not followed precisely. How well a crafting character follows that formula will be represented by a crafting check which is level-based. Having a proven magical formula to work with grants advantage on the roll. Designing a formula for a new magic item, lacking a formula, or working with a flawed formula grants disadvantage on the roll.
- Creating a Background: Adventurers come in all different stripes with many types of backgrounds. Players will be allowed to customize a background to suit their history for the character, and need not be limited by the backgrounds listed in the PH. The elements of the background are subject to DM approval however, and must fit the milieu. A "Beggar" background with Sleight of Hand as a skill is reasonable; Arcana would be a hard sell.
- Injuries: The following conditions usually create permanent injuries: taking a critical hit, dropping to 0 hit points without dying, failing a death saving throw by 5 or more. Most of the injuries can be cured simply with magical healing or a Wisdom (Medicine) check and time, but a rare few are permanent, such as losing an eye or limb. This will make the game grim and gritty. And yes, this applies to monsters and NPCs as well.
- Mixing Potions: Oh yes, you can combine a potion of healing with a potion of fire breath to try to get the effects of both with a single gulp. Or you could try to drink a second potion while still under the effect of another. But the result might be... unexpected.
- More Difficult Magic Item Identification: A short rest is not sufficient to identify any but the most common of magic items (such as a potion of healing). Usually you will need to use an identify spell, experimentation, or both.
- Rest Variant (Gritty Realism): A short rest is 8 hours and a long rest is 7 days. So resource conservation will be key! Adventuring will require careful planning. This more closely resembles the AD&D rules for resting and the benefits thereof. (Side note: I realize this severely hampers the warlock class, and I am just fine with that.)
- Scroll Mishaps: Using a magical spell scroll is not always so simple as reading the magical script. Note that checks are only necessary for spell scrolls containing spells of a higher level than your character is capable of casting. So a wise practitioner of magic will avoid the possibility of a mishap by simply not choosing to use such powerful spell scrolls.
- Training to Gain Levels: It will take 10 days of downtime per tier plus gold expenses to level up (the gold portion might be waived in exchange for a favor to the trainer). This will force player characters to take downtime from time to time. It will also require finding trainers for powerful talents. This training can be down pro-actively up to one level in advance. But an alternative is to create a new character and play that character while the other is training.
Restricted Rules and Other House Rules
- Pretty much any variant rule in the PH is included here unless otherwise stated (see Creating a Background above). This means no customizing abilities scores (you will have to roll on a dice roller of my choosing), no feats, no variant humans (although humans will receive 10% bonus experience or perhaps some other benefit to make up for the fact that the default human is pretty boring), only humans can multiclass, and just about any other variant rule you find in the PH (there are not many).
- No drow, tieflings, or dragonborn. Drow and tieflings are almost categorically evil and would not even be allowed in most civilized places. Dragonborn simply do not exist in Greyhawk. Half-orcs will not have an easy time of things for that matter, but they are still allowed.
- Only humans can be monks and paladins.
- Most adventurers are fighters and rogues. Clerics and wizards are the second-most common. Barbarians, druids, and rangers are uncommon. Bards, monks, paladins, sorcerers and warlocks are rare. Allow these guidelines to influence your character creation.
- Dwarf spellcasters are rare, but those who choose a non-spellcasting class receive advantage on all saving throws versus spells (fighter and rogue count so long as the character does not choose eldritch knight or arcane trickster).
- Players may only use the Player's Handbook unless explicit DM permission is granted.
So, who is interested? If interested, please submit a character concept first for approval. A complete character concept includes a name, race, class, background, and a two sentence description of the character (one sentence for appearance and one for personality is plenty).
Example: Eldon Halfburrow, Halfling Rogue Criminal. Eldon has a ruddy complexion with brown hair, bushy side-burns, and a long scar on his left arm from a nasty encounter with a guard's sword. He is crafty, cunning, and always careful before heading into danger, but has a wanderlust and desire for great wealth.
Approved Character Concepts
[MENTION=6787159]Skarsgard[/MENTION]: Arion Wenter, Half-Elf Rogue Charlatan
[MENTION=552]Creamsteak[/MENTION]: Mialee of the Cards, Human Bard Entertainer (Custom Background, Playing Cards : Disguise Kit, Sleight of Hand : Acrobatics) (Custom Class Feature: Spellcasting Focus-Burnt Playing Cards)
[MENTION=6800191]Spartain104[/MENTION]: Kail Ryon, Human Monk Hermit
[MENTION=8858]hafrogman[/MENTION]: Davis Gray, Human Wizard Outlander (Custom Background, Artisan's Tools: Musical Instrument)
[MENTION=913]Schmoe[/MENTION]: Helmut Krauthammer, Human Fighter Soldier
[MENTION=36150]Herobizkit[/MENTION]: Samara Renae, Half-Elf Cleric Acolyte
Once your concept has been approved, locate the Obsidian Portal site: https://greyhawk-city-of-thieves.obsidianportal.com/ To get into the OP site you will need one of the following: 1) an OP account, 2) a Google+ account, 3) a Facebook account or 4) a Twitter account. Once you sign in to OP, go to my OP profile and send me a friend request. Then I will invite you to the campaign.
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