PDA

View Full Version : LFP: 4 Specific Players. 5e Homebrew Campaign: Unlikely Heroes (CST)



tk993
July 16th, 2018, 17:58
Filled. Will reopen if people's schedules don't work out.

FG License: I have Ultimate, so any works for you.
Game System: 5e -- some variant rules (See below).

Time Zone: CST/CDT
Day of week and time: TBD: Tuesday/Friday nights 7:30-10:00/10:30. Or Saturday 12pm - 3pm. Smaller things throughout the week (see below).
Planned start date: Likely early August. (though we can get started once we have a good group put together). Session 0 will likely be either July 24th, 27th, or 28th.
Planned Duration & Frequency: 2-3hrs Weekly
Term: Long term

Text or Voice: BOTH & possibly video if players so desire.
Voice software used: Discord

Please carefully read through the campaign information below. This sort of game is going to very much appeal to some people, but very much bore others.


Campaign Premise
Our four protagonists begin the story in a small, but bustling port city having done little with their lives so far. They have little wealth to their name, and few traditional prospects for gaining wealth. They likely could have been born, lived, and died while the world spun round. But these characters have ambition. The campaign is the story of these four unlikely heroes; from their humble beginnings to wherever the players take them in this sandbox world. Do they join the army of their home nation? Do they charter a merchant company and negotiate trade deals, hire mercenaries and grow? Do they hunt down powerful ancient artifacts and sell them on the black market? In my mind, they will eventually be running nations and unifying the continent.

Campaign Information
We will have a session zero to discuss the following and create characters based on the character creation rules (below).

Sandbox Style -- Very player driven (i.e. if you want to join the town watch for the first few levels, you'll have town watch jobs to do. If you decide being bandits is what you want, while you may make a quick buck--you'll be hunted by the law and earn a bad reputation).
Economy Based -- Gold can be converted into XP. The prices you see in the PHB are not the prices you can buy and sell at in this game. I am very much for the players figuring out clever ways to take advantage of economic inefficiencies in the world. In fact, as the players get to higher levels, most of their passive leveling is going to be from guilds/companies/nations they've taken over/established that earn them money; while they're adventures are clearing the trade routes, finding better ways to ship goods, negotiating with new trade partners or even assassinating political enemies to establish more favorable trading partners.
Slower Pace -- If you get seriously wounded, a long rest isn't necessarily going to just let you hop up and get back to fighting after a night's rest. There isn't going to be a "rest button" in this game. Too much combat is exhaustive and deadly. Casting powerful spells drains caster's energy. We will be using the "Gritty realism" variant (DMG 267). A short rest is a night's sleep, a long rest is a week downtime. I may introduce healing surges (DMG 266) depending on the party composition but they would only recover on a long rest (not a short or long). Leveling will also be drastically altered (it will take a LOT more XP to level up, and again money can be converted to XP).
Heavy RP -- Because combat is exhaustive and deadly, the party will likely have to work together to determine what is too dangerous a job for them to take on. There will also be a lot more downtime given the gritty realism variant in which the party will spend in town, buying/selling goods, tracking down rumors or targets, etc. I get bored rolling dice against each other. I target roughly 70% RP / 30% combat. Ideally the players would really embrace the characters they create, giving them voice, ambition, flaws, and motives.
Low-Medium Magic setting Heavy weighting on common races.


Type of Player:

Interested -- I'm looking for players who are interested in the above sort of campaign. Also I'd like you to be interested in continuing to build our story between sessions via play-by-post over discord. During downtime, what is your character doing? This could include things like correspondence with NPCs, planning out a trade route, hiring/buying carts, guards, etc., or even spy work. We can work out a lot of this in play-by-post.
Mature -- I'm 28, have a lovely wife and 4 kids. I'm here to create stories and build worlds; not goof around talking about drinking and sex. Also, see the alignment note below.
Clean(ish) language -- Not interested in players who default to dropping f-bombs as modifiers (adverbs/adjectives). You are not f-ing hungry, you're famished. I'm not saying you can't have a foul mouthed Dwarven fighter; but everything in moderation.
Creative -- As the campaign will be largely player driven, players will need to figure out ways to solve problems and achieve their characters goals. I want characters that are multidimensional; so min/maxers and murderhobos need not apply; see note on character creation below). Your characters are just as much a part of the story as the world I present for them to explore. We are building this story together. This campaign will only be successful if the creativity comes from both players and DM.


Character Creation Rules:
The name of this campaign is Unlikely Heroes or alternatively should they succeed in achieving level 20 and basically running the world "Unlikely Rulers." To match this theme, i have decided on the following character creation rules.

Character creation will take place in session 0.

Players will roll 4d6d1 and placing rolls in order on their ability sheet; The first roll will be Strength, second dexterity, third constitution and so on through charisma. What you roll is what you get, there are no re-rolls. I may intervene as DM if someone makes exceptionally poor rolls and allow them a single stat-swap with another player.

Players will select race from PHB, and even then I would focus on the common races. Uncommon races will likely be discriminated against to hunted down outright in certain parts of the world.

Classes are PHB + 1 and will be selected after abilities are rolled. That said, if you want to play a wizard no matter the roll, I'm not stopping you from still playing a super strong wizard with average intelligence. In fact, that could make a far more interesting character concept than fitting the class to the ability score.

On Alignment and Ability Scores: "Everything in moderation"
I think too many people take ability scores and alignment to the extremes. In this game, we're going to keep things more moderate. Chaotic doesn't mean you willy nilly go around committing arson or murder. It just means you have a tenancy to believe more in individual freedom rather than law and order. You still know that there IS law and order and that you need to follow it. Evil doesn't (necessarily) mean you're just going to go around lopping off people heads. It generally just means you're selfish and put your interests ahead of society/another person's in decisions you make. An 8 intelligence doesn't mean you're a bumbling idiot, it just means you're slightly below average.

On Character Death:
Should a PC die, except for very special circumstances; in this low-medium magic setting, they are dead. The player can transfer 1/4 of the XP at the time of death into a fresh character (this means that they will start roughly one or two levels behind where they were).

How to join:
Putting together a fun gaming group takes time. In business I've always been of the opinion be quick to hire, quick to fire. I'm always willing to give people a chance, but if they don't work I let them know and get rid of them. I will be taking the same approach to the gaming group I'm putting together. If someone's not a good fit after a session or two, I will be quick to get rid of them for the sake of the rest of the group.

With that in mind, if you're interested in being a part of such a group/campaign, please private message me responses to questions in the following post (this post too long for everything). The questions have been taken from https://www.campaignmastery.com/blog/this-survey-for-new-players-ensures-a-good-fit/, so feel free to look at answers there and copy/paste an appropriate answer or come up with your own:

tk993
July 16th, 2018, 17:59
If interested please private message me responses to the following questions. The questions have been taken from https://www.campaignmastery.com/blog/...es-a-good-fit/, so feel free to look at answers there and copy/paste an appropriate answer or come up with your own:

Name:
Age:
Best Time Slot (CDT/CST): Tuesday 7:30pm to 10:30pm, Friday 7:30pm to 10:30pmCDT, or Saturday 12:00pm to 3:00pm.
What most draws you to the above described game? What are you uncertain or most dubious about in the above described game?
Table-top RPG experience / 5e experience
My favorite ways to feel cool in game: (Some examples: acquire, use, & optimize spells, items etc.; think clerverly, strategicly, or creatively to overcome obstacles/ememies; Me Bash! (my wife's favorite); To have acharacter participate in a fun story and hopefully be successful; to stay in character even when it might hurt me; Hey, I'm just here for friends and a good time).
Two campaign events or situations you have enjoyed in previous gaming:
Two campaign events or moments you did not enjoy in previous gaming:
If you can't attend a session, what should happen to your character: (My character's abilities may be used, My character may be roleplayed by a player I trust, a GM I trust may roleplay my character, it's okay if my character dies while I'm gone, it's okay if my character dies while I'm gone, but only in a TPK situation; My character mysteriously disappears and returns when I return the next session).
How okay are you with character failure: Ranging from okay with failing (even the whole campaign) to failing is never acceptable. Anr example: I'm okay with failing an overall campaign mission, so long as we have new goals to fix it (i.e. failed to close a gate, now fight what comes through gate and then try to close again).
I like roleplaying where:

Everyone focuses on the gorup goals
There are group goals, individual goals, and those goals may be different
I like individual goals to converge with group goals.

When is it okay or even fun for your character to die in a game?
What kind of overarching campaign goals interest you:
Halt a danger to a home town
Fight a war of defense
Be loyal to an organization (get orders, fulfill missions)
Stop an evil organization/evil overlord
Save the world/universe
Stop the internal power grab within my organization/country
Build up the power/wealth/status of my loyal patron
See the world
Explore different cultures
Get the McGuffin
Build a menagerie
Avenge the wronged
Protect the weak
Build my power and the power of my friends
Please let me know what kinds of dramatic events can escalate tension or enjoyment and motivate your character(s) to fight against:
Please let me know what kinds of dramatic events you don’t feel have a place in a game that would be fun for you:
Please let me know if there are any types of violence that would not be okay to happen to your character:
Please let me know if there are types of violence that would not be okay to happen to your character’s loved ones or family:
Okay with players playing different gendered characters? (i.e. female player playing a male character or vice-versa) Answers can range from: why is this even a question, yes, yes (but I think they're weird), Only if they're good at it, no (it would ruin immersion).

Plutwo
July 22nd, 2018, 17:44
I was interested until I came across the question in your player application section that contains "Please let me know if there are any types of violence that would not be okay to happen to your character".

Why is this vague question a question? Then there is the same question but targeted towards "loved ones or family". Why so vague and why ask the questions at all? Are you talking about typical fantasy genre violence where the even local lord sends his men to shake down the citizenry to collect hefty taxes, and then your significant other, kids, and house go up in flames as a result thereby putting your character on a path of retribution. That would all fall in line with the PG-13 atmosphere you set up earlier in your post, and even though having a character's family be killed by a current villain or a new villain is devastating, it is also dramatic and would hardly be considered over-the-line. Nameless background villagers have this kind of thing happen to them all the time in published D&D adventures.

Due to the vagueness of the question, and even asking it to begin with, it seems to me that you instead mean violence to the extreme. Excessive gore, ultraviolence, and sexual violence are specific things and it seems you understand that they are abhorrent to the majority of players.

If you are looking to start a table where everyone who has a seat is onboard for those kinds of things, then just say that. Be direct so nobody wastes anybody else's time.

Also the blog post you link to that is supposed to have examples of the kind of answers you are looking for? It looks like the post was taken down.

PhorgottenSon
July 23rd, 2018, 07:58
I was interested until I came across the question in your player application section that contains "Please let me know if there are any types of violence that would not be okay to happen to your character".

Why is this vague question a question? Then there is the same question but targeted towards "loved ones or family". Why so vague and why ask the questions at all? Are you talking about typical fantasy genre violence where the even local lord sends his men to shake down the citizenry to collect hefty taxes, and then your significant other, kids, and house go up in flames as a result thereby putting your character on a path of retribution. That would all fall in line with the PG-13 atmosphere you set up earlier in your post, and even though having a character's family be killed by a current villain or a new villain is devastating, it is also dramatic and would hardly be considered over-the-line. Nameless background villagers have this kind of thing happen to them all the time in published D&D adventures.

Due to the vagueness of the question, and even asking it to begin with, it seems to me that you instead mean violence to the extreme. Excessive gore, ultraviolence, and sexual violence are specific things and it seems you understand that they are abhorrent to the majority of players.

If you are looking to start a table where everyone who has a seat is onboard for those kinds of things, then just say that. Be direct so nobody wastes anybody else's time.

Also the blog post you link to that is supposed to have examples of the kind of answers you are looking for? It looks like the post was taken down.


I am also interested in this game. He is a beginner poster here and sometimes long links do not show up correctly. The blog post is here:
www.campaignmastery.com/blog/this-survey-for-new-players-ensures-a-good-fit/

Here is the question and example answers you mentioned that was copied from that linked blog post:
26. Please let me know what kinds of dramatic events you don’t feel have a place in a game that would be fun for you:


Descriptions of graphic violence/gore
Violence against

innocents
women
children
animals
men


Torture
Dismemberment
Insults
Kidnapping
Threats
Other

tk993
July 26th, 2018, 23:29
Thanks for the interest everyone! I think I've got a good group setup. Assuming nobody's schedule changes, we're good to go for a while.