Situated along the northwestern coast of the subcontinent of Faerun is a wondrous city, dubbed by some as the Jewel of the North. Neverwinter, a marvelous port city, famous for its exquisite timepieces, and called by Volo the single-most civilized city in all of Faerun, is truly a wonder to behold. One can stand at the intersection of the three bridges and stare at the cascading waterfalls for days, the mind entrenched with the beauty of the flowing water, before you even realize that the days have passed. And the city's magnificent gardens ensure that the warm winters are colorful, the spring air filled with the scents of fresh blossoms, the summer trees and fields prosperous with fruit and vegetable alike, and the autumn wagons overflowing with the bounty of harvest.
It is here, at the gates of this city of Tyr, where justice is revered and greed is frowned upon, that you now stand. Your friend Gundren, a stout and hearty dwarf merchant, has paid you to watch over a wagon filled with provisions and supplies as it makes its way south along the High Road toward the settlement of Phandalin. The journey is to take only a couple of days, and the worst thing you are expected to find is but a light spring breeze as you travel to the southeast.
But all travels and meaningless jobs are not without their secrets. For Gundren was both excited and more than a bit elusive when asked about the job in any detail. Surely, the 10 gold coins he promised you should have been enough, but his insistence on not answering questions has raised a few red flags. All he would say is that he and his brethren had found something "big", and that these supplies were most needed. So you agreed, upon the principle of doing a good job - and the promise of some much-needed coin - to help deliver these supplies to Barthen's Provisions in Phandalin, whilst Gundren and his warrior escort Sildar set out on horseback a day or so ago ahead of you, his claims of needing to take care of business before you arrive barely in your ears before he was off.
And so, here you are, ready to do the job you were hired to do...
Let me start by saying "Thank You" for reading this recruitment thread. I know there are a lot of different threads out here for many different games, and it can be confusing (at least it was for me) to go through them all and see what is going on and who is doing what. So the fact that you've gotten this far says that I'm at least on the right track for reeling people in!
So, with that said, I should give some details about what this is and what I am looking for. And who I am, I suppose.
Who I Am
While new to EN World, I am definitely not new when it comes to gaming. I've been playing RPG's for [number of years redacted] years, having cut my teeth on AD&D 1E and the BECMI sets. I've been GMing these systems for [again, number of years redacted] years, which is almost as long as I've been playing them. So I have the experience needed to run a game.
I'm a bit new to 5E, only having started playing it within the last few months. But, to me, the mechanics of the system shouldn't be a deterrent to running it. I can craft a story, and I can give details, and I am no stranger to looking things up. And while I believe I have a lot of the mechanics down (insert plug for ForgedAnvil's 5E character generator here), I am not perfect. I will never pretend that I am, so you can be assured that I won't ever try to be. I can learn just like anyone else, and I feel that games are a collaboration of the efforts of both players and GMs.
I've done PBP for quite a while now, so I am familiar with the method and how these things work. I'm still getting used to how things work here at EN World, but as long as you guys can be lenient with my learning curve, I am sure things will be just fine.
What This Is
In the simplest of terms, D&D 5E. Lost Mine of Phandelver, to be precise. It's an adventure I've wanted to run since I started reading it, and I've finally decided to just throw down the gauntlet and do it.
In longer terms, I want this to be a long-running campaign, where the players don't only just run through the mine and collect the treasure, but where they forge bonds between their characters and, maybe, hopefully, potentially, go on to bigger and better things. Maybe Tyranny of Dragons? Maybe Elemental Evil? Maybe some conversion from an earlier edition? Where the game goes after the mine is up to the players, really.
Character Creation
All games have to have some rules regarding creating characters. We'd all like to just say "I'm a kick-butt fighter with a bajillion hit points!", but that isn't realistic. Nor would it be balanced in any way for that. So here are the general rules for creating a character for this attempt at this game.
I am not requiring a backstory for your characters. I have found the the Personality, Flaw, Bond, and Ideals section of the character do a better job of giving me what I can expect from your character than a full-on backstory does. I have also found that people tend to focus too much on what they've written in their backstory, and I don't want to get questioned about why your mother's father's next-door-neighbor's dog-walker's best friend hasn't come up yet. The game/story is about what happens to you after it starts, not before.
I don't care what alignment you want to play, provided you aren't of the Chaotic-Stupid variety. The group is expected to get along at least as far as accomplishing your goals as a group. You may have conflict, and you may not always get along with each other. But you are expected to work together.
And on that note, PvP will NOT be tolerated. For any reason. PvP has a way of killing a game, not just the characters involved. If the game dies, I'd rather it be for a reason other than the Minotaur Barbarian decided to eat the Halfling Thief for stealing his shoes.
Number of Characters
I would like no less than 4, and no more than 5, in this group.
And here we get into where I am going to struggle with this site - selection of characters. I want to say "The first 5 who complete a character" or "I'll give everyone until such-and-such date and then I'll pick", but I'm not sure what the appropriate, expected etiquette on this site is. So I will state that, until I hear differently, it will be the first 5 completed characters. And by completed, I do mean all the mechanics, to include (I hope) a portrait of your character.
Maps/Images
I'm a very visual person. As such, I will try to keep the very first post of the impending OOC thread up-to-date with any maps or drawings you need for this game. I will also try to incorporate as many images of NPCs and other things as I can in the IC thread.
Other Stuff
Again, I'm new to the site, so I'm still learning the accepted etiquette of things. So if I've missed anything, or if you have questions that I need to address, please let me know. I can't get better if I don't know what I'm doing wrong!
It is here, at the gates of this city of Tyr, where justice is revered and greed is frowned upon, that you now stand. Your friend Gundren, a stout and hearty dwarf merchant, has paid you to watch over a wagon filled with provisions and supplies as it makes its way south along the High Road toward the settlement of Phandalin. The journey is to take only a couple of days, and the worst thing you are expected to find is but a light spring breeze as you travel to the southeast.
But all travels and meaningless jobs are not without their secrets. For Gundren was both excited and more than a bit elusive when asked about the job in any detail. Surely, the 10 gold coins he promised you should have been enough, but his insistence on not answering questions has raised a few red flags. All he would say is that he and his brethren had found something "big", and that these supplies were most needed. So you agreed, upon the principle of doing a good job - and the promise of some much-needed coin - to help deliver these supplies to Barthen's Provisions in Phandalin, whilst Gundren and his warrior escort Sildar set out on horseback a day or so ago ahead of you, his claims of needing to take care of business before you arrive barely in your ears before he was off.
And so, here you are, ready to do the job you were hired to do...
Let me start by saying "Thank You" for reading this recruitment thread. I know there are a lot of different threads out here for many different games, and it can be confusing (at least it was for me) to go through them all and see what is going on and who is doing what. So the fact that you've gotten this far says that I'm at least on the right track for reeling people in!
So, with that said, I should give some details about what this is and what I am looking for. And who I am, I suppose.
Who I Am
While new to EN World, I am definitely not new when it comes to gaming. I've been playing RPG's for [number of years redacted] years, having cut my teeth on AD&D 1E and the BECMI sets. I've been GMing these systems for [again, number of years redacted] years, which is almost as long as I've been playing them. So I have the experience needed to run a game.
I'm a bit new to 5E, only having started playing it within the last few months. But, to me, the mechanics of the system shouldn't be a deterrent to running it. I can craft a story, and I can give details, and I am no stranger to looking things up. And while I believe I have a lot of the mechanics down (insert plug for ForgedAnvil's 5E character generator here), I am not perfect. I will never pretend that I am, so you can be assured that I won't ever try to be. I can learn just like anyone else, and I feel that games are a collaboration of the efforts of both players and GMs.
I've done PBP for quite a while now, so I am familiar with the method and how these things work. I'm still getting used to how things work here at EN World, but as long as you guys can be lenient with my learning curve, I am sure things will be just fine.
What This Is
In the simplest of terms, D&D 5E. Lost Mine of Phandelver, to be precise. It's an adventure I've wanted to run since I started reading it, and I've finally decided to just throw down the gauntlet and do it.
In longer terms, I want this to be a long-running campaign, where the players don't only just run through the mine and collect the treasure, but where they forge bonds between their characters and, maybe, hopefully, potentially, go on to bigger and better things. Maybe Tyranny of Dragons? Maybe Elemental Evil? Maybe some conversion from an earlier edition? Where the game goes after the mine is up to the players, really.
Character Creation
All games have to have some rules regarding creating characters. We'd all like to just say "I'm a kick-butt fighter with a bajillion hit points!", but that isn't realistic. Nor would it be balanced in any way for that. So here are the general rules for creating a character for this attempt at this game.
- This is 5E, so the 5E Player's Handbook will be the primary source of character generation rules. Some of these are canon, some are going to be house rules.
- All characters are 1st level with 0 XP and maximum HP.
- Attributes will be generated using the 27 point buy method. The one caveat with this is that you are allowed to go over a score of 15 using this method, as opposed to the book stating you have to be at 15 or less. You may still not go below 8 with any attribute, however.
- All currently available sources, to include UA articles, are allowed...with the following exceptions:
- No Warforged
- No races from the Elemental Evil Player's Guide
- Modern Magic is not allowed
- Psionics and the Mystic is not allowed
- Favored Soul is not allowed
- Homebrew of any kind is not allowed
- We are using Human Variants here, so remember that only 2 attributes get the +1, and don't forget your Feat.
I am not requiring a backstory for your characters. I have found the the Personality, Flaw, Bond, and Ideals section of the character do a better job of giving me what I can expect from your character than a full-on backstory does. I have also found that people tend to focus too much on what they've written in their backstory, and I don't want to get questioned about why your mother's father's next-door-neighbor's dog-walker's best friend hasn't come up yet. The game/story is about what happens to you after it starts, not before.
I don't care what alignment you want to play, provided you aren't of the Chaotic-Stupid variety. The group is expected to get along at least as far as accomplishing your goals as a group. You may have conflict, and you may not always get along with each other. But you are expected to work together.
And on that note, PvP will NOT be tolerated. For any reason. PvP has a way of killing a game, not just the characters involved. If the game dies, I'd rather it be for a reason other than the Minotaur Barbarian decided to eat the Halfling Thief for stealing his shoes.
Number of Characters
I would like no less than 4, and no more than 5, in this group.
And here we get into where I am going to struggle with this site - selection of characters. I want to say "The first 5 who complete a character" or "I'll give everyone until such-and-such date and then I'll pick", but I'm not sure what the appropriate, expected etiquette on this site is. So I will state that, until I hear differently, it will be the first 5 completed characters. And by completed, I do mean all the mechanics, to include (I hope) a portrait of your character.
Maps/Images
I'm a very visual person. As such, I will try to keep the very first post of the impending OOC thread up-to-date with any maps or drawings you need for this game. I will also try to incorporate as many images of NPCs and other things as I can in the IC thread.
Other Stuff
Again, I'm new to the site, so I'm still learning the accepted etiquette of things. So if I've missed anything, or if you have questions that I need to address, please let me know. I can't get better if I don't know what I'm doing wrong!
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