[LFP] D&D 5e Homebrewed Campaign Setting, Heavy RP/Story-Oriented Monday 6PM EST

[WildKnight]

Looking for 3 - 5 players for a story oriented, role-play heavy (probably 60-40 RP to combat, perhaps even 75 - 25...) campaign set in a homebrewed setting. It would run most Monday Nights (I'm a family man, so holidays, emergencies, and possibly a vacation or two would be exceptions) from 6PM till 10 or 11 PM EST. This means I'd like to be started playing by 6, so I would hope players would arrive early for any preliminary questions, socialization, etc. Voice is a must, and would be via Discord.

What I'm looking for in players: Players new to the system or role-playing games in general are very welcome in my games. I'm more interested in enthusiasm and cooperation (both with myself and with the other players) than I am in experience. Players should be more interested in cooperative storytelling than in building powerful characters. Power gamers and murder hobos have their place in gaming, but that place is not at my "table." I'm looking for players who are interested in playing characters of a generally heroic bent, as opposed to lone wolves or anti-heroes (or outright villains...), as well as players who are interested in becoming part of, and influencing in the long term, a campaign setting with decades of history.

About me as a DM: I've got more than two decades of experience, but by no means does that make me perfect, or even a really great DM, but it does mean that I've got a good idea of what works for me, and what doesn't. My games are typically plot driven (as opposed to character driven, so they're not sandboxes), but feature a strong element of character development, with each character having a minor through-plot of their own at least one point during the campaign. I use a combination of combat maps and theater of the mind, typically linked to how long I expect the battle to be (longer battles, set pieces, etc, will typically involve a map). I use very few random encounters and almost no randomly placed treasure. I will be using bits and pieces of published modules, repurposed for our campaign, so if you're familiar with the various published campaigns out there, expect to see maps & encounters that are familiar to you (though in different context).

What drives me as a DM is the cooperative storytelling element of the game, and I tend to focus much more on story than other elements of the game, but balance is an important focus for me as well.

About the setting; Jiorkar is a continent with thousands of years of history, largely dominated by the conflicts between the often petty gods, and their overreaches in attempting to "help" mortals. The setting was started in 2nd edition, and has some unique elements homebrewed by me, and deviates significantly from the published 5e material (for instance, there are no Tieflings, Aasimar, or Genasi in the setting because, for the most part, otherworldly beings are incapable of producing offspring with flesh-and-blood creatures). Dragons are rare and exceptionally powerful, and giants are all but extinct. Unlike most Dungeons & Dragons settings, Jiorkar doesn't have an established history of "professional adventurers" who earn a living by traveling to and looting ancient sites, etc, so PCs in most Jiorkar campaigns have ties to other people, locations, or organizations that drive them to their dangerous work.

About the campaign; At this point in the history of the continent, the surface of Jiorkar is little more than a loosely connected series of city-states, often with vast stretches of open, dangerous to travel land in-between them. The dwarves have their vast underground kingdom and the elves are unified under the Sun King in the Forest of Slumbering Dreams to the north, but for most, the luxury of a stable government is not a reality. Many are happy with the way things are, and are wary of new rulers, but there are those who believe that a new Empire must rise if culture is to resume its advancement.

This Campaign, entitled "Imperial March", focuses on the efforts of a secretive group to bring the light of civilization back to a world increasingly shrouded in darkness. The PCs would be swept up in this ongoing effort, and will have to make difficult decisions about what is best, and perhaps choose between themselves and the greater good...

[j624]

I'm confused about what you mean by RP vs Story. How much combat or other "mechanical" aspects do you expect?

I'm not a murderhobo or a min/maxer, but I tend to enjoy the mechanical aspects of combat more than the character-interaction RP. I enjoy role-playing my character's choices, both in-game and in creation, more than their interactions, so an entire session of shopping/schmoozing/investigating is not as much fun.

[WildKnight]

Sorry, that should read "RP to combat" (and does now that I've edited it)

[j624]

Thanks for the update. I don't think it's a good fit for me then. I'm already in one RP-focused game and I think I'd like to find something more combat-focused for a second game.

[Overdog]

You sound a lot like me in my DMing style so I would be definitely interested. Let me know if you are still looking and when you are expecting to start. I have a lot of experience with FGs, Discord, and RPGs.

[WildKnight]

You sound a lot like me in my DMing style so I would be definitely interested. Let me know if you are still looking and when you are expecting to start. I have a lot of experience with FGs, Discord, and RPGs.

Basically as soon as I have enough players. I've got two younger guys that I've run games for in the past who are already interested. Does the day and time work for you?

[Overdog]

Basically as soon as I have enough players. I've got two younger guys that I've run games for in the past who are already interested. Does the day and time work for you?

It does.

[wogle]

I'm interested in this.
Besides your no-pseudo-outsiders rule, are there any other races disallowed? (specifically, I've been wanting to try a triton horizon walker ranger recently, but that pulls a race from Volo's and a class archetype from Xanathar's)

[WildKnight]

I'm interested in this.
Besides your no-pseudo-outsiders rule, are there any other races disallowed? (specifically, I've been wanting to try a triton horizon walker ranger recently, but that pulls a race from Volo's and a class archetype from Xanathar's)

Unfortunately, neither of those options are available. Tritons aren't really suitable PCs for Jiorkar, and the Horizon Walker couldn't exist at all, because one of the core concepts of the setting is that the gods, in an effort to keep the gods of other worlds from interfering, created an impenetrable barrier called the Wall Between Worlds, which makes planar travel extraordinarily difficult for mortals.

[wogle]

Ooh, homebrew lore and everything. Well, I'm still interested, that's just the current character itch I have, it's not a demand of mine.