OK! I've decided to lay down some ground rules for my game, just so everyone is on the same page. I'm going to spend tomorrow crafting the actual campaign, though most of the big stuff is done, and tonight I'll put up the Roster thread. But here are a few things I want y'all to know.
1. I don't care what alignment your party is. I don't care if you're evil, or chaotic, or lawful, or neutral. Or good, for that matter. You can be what you want. You do not have to get along in the game. Backstabbing is ok. PMing me secret acts is ok, though other characters could discover your secret acts. Trying to set up the other characters, or undermine them, or fall in love with them and marry them is all fine and dandy.
What is not ok is disrupting the game. Acting in a way that impedes on the other player's fun. By this, I mean purposefully acting in a trollish manner and saying "It's just how my character is." I had a guy in another group do this. We invited him to play an already established group, and so he made a drunk who bit the party gnome, then grabbed him and put him on his shoulders and ran around, then found the party elf and put his head on her shoulder, and just generally made a goof of himself, making all the players uncomfortable. His character later had a heart attack and died asphyxiated on his own vomit, then was thrown in the river and promptly forgotten about. He was asked to leave. (To be fair, I told him his character was going to die, and let him decide how, and that's what he said.)
I haven't seen many of these problems on this site, so I don't think anyone here is going to be a problem. But if someone does become a problem, I'll talk to you privately and try to fix the situation peacefully. If you're so much of a problem that I have to kill your character, I'll still be nice about it. I'm not a meanie. But the fun of the whole group is my goal.
The good news is that because of the way y'all will be put together, it doesn't matter how much you like each other or what your alignments are. You aren't exactly going to have a choice in the matter. Well, you will, but there will be very compelling reasons to stay together.
2. This may go without saying, and I don't want to sound like a jerk, but I am the DM. I am god. I am the creator and shaper of your worlds. As you have seen, I am very lenient, and don't make rulings that don't make sense. Feel free to ask any questions, request anything your heart desires, or ask if any scenario is plausible. And go ahead and argue your case. But once I give a final ruling on something, please don't keep going. I promise I'm going to be fair. Don't make me want to smite you. Not that I will, but I don't make me want to. That's just not fun for me.
3. I've DM'd quite a bit. Even so, figuring out what is a good challenge and what is either annoyingly easy or too tough to play is hard to do until I actually see what you can do. I don't want this to be easy. That's why I gave you max health and allowed such high stats. So, if things are too easy up front, that's ok. I have to learn what y'all are capable of. Expect it to get harder as time goes. Expect enemies to act with appropriate intelligence. If you die, it may or may not be the end of the game for you. We'll deal with that when we come to it.
I'm going to go ahead and try the "Group Initiative" thing that was suggested. I can post most days, and especially on the weekends. I want y'all to have as much fun as possible, and my ultimate goal is to actually get you to Level 20 and beyond. That'll obviously take a long time, but that's what I want. Those that stick it out and make it will not regret it.
That said, if you want to drop out, let me know. I already have one person on a waiting list, and a few others who have asked if there's room, but y'all have first dibs.
I know all this doesn't really need to be said, but I just don't want any misconceptions. Let's have fun!
