"I swear, it's the darndest thing." Farmer Fitzgibbons said just a second before the hood of the tractor flopped down on his head with a resounding thud. He uttered an indignant "ow!"and clamped the palm of his head against his scalp, trying to rub the smart out of the knot that was already forming there.
Nearby, his son Paul was still cleaning the carburetor parts with a rag, watching his father dig about in the machinery of the tractor. The boy was interested, though didn't know even remotely as much about the tractor as his father, so he did the simple things while his father did the actual mechanic work.
"Paul, are you sure you and your friends weren't building weird tater guns with the tractor parts again?" His dad said, growing serious and sounding more than a little frustrated. He was still rubbing his greasy hand against the thump he took on his head.
"No sir! I learned my lesson last time!" The boy said, stopping his cleaning of the parts. "I thought I was going to have to have a butt transplant when you were done with us."
"I just don't understand it." Farmer Fitzgibbon said, raising the hood of the tractor back up and looking inside. "A fuel line. Coil cables. The fuel filter. Who would steal all that stuff? And why? I mean, I someone did, obviously. I just don't understand..."
A life lived in secret...
All of the animals of the Fitzgibbon Farm know about the rats that live in the rosebush in front of the farm house. They know, too, that these aren't just normal rats. There is something weird about them. Something off. Something too smart, and somehow too secret, but none of them can exactly put their finger on what it is. There's the weird flashes of light that can be seen from the bush from time to time. There are the rats, sometimes leaving the bush together as a well organized troop to steal from the farmer, and then there are the whispers, from the fields to the forest, about the subteranean stronghold...but no one really knows what this means. No one, that is, but the rats of course.
It's not just the rats that live in secret, though. The mice, the shrews, all the little animals living around the Fitzgibbon Farm have their secrets. Some are more important in the grand scheme than others, of course, but, truth be told, the entirety of their lives are secret. Secrets to avoid the farmer, and Dragon. Secret hiding places where they can be safe, keep food, raise families...
Danger is literally everywhere in The Legacy of NIMH. The farmer's cat, Dragon, patrols the farm with ferocious hunger, always seeking out his next meal, while new, younger cats have been seen around the farm house. There are dogs that live for the thrill of killing. There are chickens that will devour a shrew if given the chance.
There is an element of stealth that is recommended for the game. Rogues and Rangers have sought after skill sets, but all sorts of class combinations will be needed to survive in this tough world.
Not all encounters are meant to be fought. Many will be there to test your ability to survive. Skills like Stealth, Survival, Sleight of Hand, and Nature will be paramount. As the DM, I recommend that even if you build a Fighter or Barbarian, you try to work in couple of skills that would normally be outside a typical build for such a character. Since this is a lower tech setting, there won't be very many sets of Plate or Half-Plate armor out there, so this may not be such a bad thing...
A world of limited magic and technology...
The tractor is the pinnacle of technology, as far as you're concerned. A hulking behemoth of electrical systems, combustion engines, gears and axles, most of which you can't comprehend how it works. When the tiny swords and knives your kind has adopted began to show up, or even the worked leather armor and simple clothing, it revolutionized how your people lived.
When you first heard about magic...well, you didn't know what to do with the information. The power to manipulate fate and physics, the world around you, with simple incantations? How is that even possible? But it was...though it seems to be very limited and rare, especially amongst your people. Only the rats seem to have any decent grasp of what it is, even they're not sharing the secret. From what you gather, most of them don't know how it works either. What a mysterious force...
You won't be able to find any sets of Full Plate in The Legacy of NIMH, and Half Plate will be rare and unavailable at starting. Chain mail will also be very rare but not unheard of, but if you have it you'll have to justify how. Metallurgy amongst the animals of the farm is simply too uncommon to make such things easy to come across.
Full Casters are extremely rare as well, and I will probably only recruit one for the campaign. Half Casters will be a little more common, though, but ALL casters will have their spell slots reduced by 1 per level, to a minimum of 1. That means if you'd normally have two Level 1 spell slots, you'll only have 1 instead. ALL spell slots recharge after Long Rests instead of Short Rests.
In the shadow of giants...
Even amongst the animals of the farm, you are small. The cats, the dogs, the hawk, the dreaded owl that comes at night, even the livestock...they're all bigger than you are. Because of this, danger abounds. You could be snatched by hungry jaws or talons just as easily as you could be accidentally stepped on by a lumbering bovine.
It's not all bad, though. You can live where others cannot enter, and disappear down holes and tunnels their hands cannot reach into.
For the Wild Born, this has been the way of life for time immemorial. They have grown up in it, evolved to it, been molded by the world.
For the NIMH Survivors, it's a new experience. Having been torn from their wild homes years ago and changed by the scientists as the National Institute of Mental Health, they're finding where they now fit in this world. They're not quite wild animals, and not human either...
Enemy encounters will be deadly by nature. Starting at low levels and working your way up with limited tech and magic, simple encounters will be very dangerous, and there's always the threat of the bigger enemies finding you and initiating combat. Dragon and the hawk will always be hunting you, and being found in a house by a human will not be a good thing. There is a saying that goes something like -
The better part of valor is discretion
But you know this already. It's in your very nature.
To break the cycle of survival...
Summer has gone, and autumn is in full color as the leaves begin to fall from the trees. Farmer Fitzgibbon works to get his tractor running again so that he can mow down the fields, destroying dozens of homes and clearing the lands so that there is no where left for you to hide. Soon the corn will be harvested for silage, the gardens will be turned under for the winter, and the world will be too barren for you to venture out. How many will die? How many will lose homes?
And then there are the rumors... You're all starting to hear them. Rumors here. Rumors there. Rumors that, if true, will threaten your survival...and the survival of your friends...
The coming of winter presents a danger to you all, as it does every year. However, this year, the farmer's new bushhog threatens to clear out the fields of high grass and short scrub that you rely upon for seeds and food as well as cover during the cold months. It also means that nests and homes will be wiped clear. It's hard to keep your existence a secret by sabotaging the tractor...but someone has already beat you to it. And they've done a thorough job.
The problem is, that has created problems in itself. You will all be brought together by the various secrets and rumors this sabotage has exposed, and it will be up to you all to come together, link the pieces of the puzzle together, and learn the truth of what is happening before it is too late...
How To Apply
I don't want to see the usual character application here. I want you to get creative. Usually folks give you a list of "show me your ASIs, your background, description", all that. I DO want that...but I don't want it laid out in a list. That tells me who your character is. I want you to show me. Give me a story of who your character is and tell me how you intend to play them. Work the details into it. If you want to mention the mechanics here, that's fine, but I am far more interested in seeing who your character is and how they live in the world than I am hearing about your character sheet.
I invite you to provide art in your application, if you'd like.
Get creative! Have fun!
Another point I'd like to add; this campaign won't start immediately. I want to spend some time with the characters building backstories, writing the back stories into the campaign, and figuring out how they fit together as a team. Who knows who? How?
And please, REACH OUT TO ME if you want to get a head start on working your character into the world as you create your application. Do note, however, that this does not guarantee that you'll be picked. It simply helps.
A few important notes-
I will be recruiting mostly Mousefolk and Ratfolk characters, with maybe a couple of other races sprinkled in. If you want to use any race that isn't one of the homebrew races (listed below), you'll need to work with me to make sure that we modify it to work in the campaign, so talk to me first!
You can pick from any of the established backgrounds.
You will start with 1 Feat that you will have to pick from two homebrewed Feats that are specific to this campaign; Wild Born or NIMH Survivor. These are actually more like Backgrounds, but I don't want to limit you during your character creation process so I made them Feats instead. Follow the instructions for the Feats. if you need help applying their bonuses, let me know.
NIMH Survivors are only Mice and Rats, so to take that Feat, you will have to be a Mousefolk or Ratfolk.
Any character / race could be Wild Born.
All characters start at Level 1.
ASI will be Point Buy.
You cannot start with Half Plate or Plate armor. You won't be starting with any magical items. You need a well written reason for having chain mail if you have it in your inventory.
If you plan to play a Full Caster, you have to have the NIMH Survivor Feat. Please work with me so we can write your story together to make it fit the setting!
One thing I forgot to mention: you will need Discord! I use Discord to create private player channels for coordination with each of you, as well as easier map / picture sharing, dice rolling, and team chat.
This looks lovely. I don't have time for another other play-by-post campaign at the moment, but if I did, I'd definitely be talking to you about submitting a barbarian crow!
Hey there, I have no clue what NIMH is and I haven't watched it, but I did read a lot of Redwall during my childhood. I heard it's quite similar to NIMH, but again, I'll go into this completely blind. Might add to the immersion too, considering my character is likely an outsider in this case.
One question: can I play as pika (More specifically, American pika?) They look like this (And yes, I know, they're adorable and I want to pet one of them IRL:
Pikas might look like a mouse, but they have no tail and they're more related to rabbits than rodents (Which, by the way, rabbits are technically not rodents since their genetic lines split a few million years earlier.) I'm not sure if you'd classify them as shrewfolk, mousefolk, rabbitfolk (the way nature intended), or something else completely.
The major problem with pikas and my character overall is they can only be found in Tibetian highlands or North America (in the case of my character), they can't be found in Europe or England (Assuming that's where the NIMH setting is, again, I'm sorry for my lack of knowledge of the lore). They're resistant to cold and sensitive to heat, in fact, scientists are concerned that global warming might affect their population. I'm not sure how biologically accurate you want each animal to be, but you can probably ignore this fact if your aim isn't making the most biologically accurate campaign possible.
I was originally going to go for hyrax, but there is no way they'd fit in the setting. They're the closest living relative to elephants and sea cows, but again, they aren't even remotely related to rodents or any woodland critters in that matter. I'll settle with pika instead, but if that doesn't work either, I'll settle with the ol' reliable rodents.
"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
Thanks! I appreciate the kind word. And a barbarian crow would really be something to see haha.
@ACNSuphalak:
I am actually not familiar with Redwall, but it came up a LOT as I researched for this campaign. From what I saw, they look very similar.
I am open to you applying as a Pika. HOWEVER, I think we need to work together to figure out how this character fits in. Being a Lagomorph, I think that a Pika would probably work best as a modified Harengon, but if you have suggestions I am open to hearing them. We also need to figure out where this Pika came from and how it got to the Fitzgibbon Farm. Are they an escaped pet? Are they simply misplaced, not sure how they got their in their wandering and no idea how to get home? Maybe they rode in on a cargo truck or something by accident?
The story will be set somewhere in the American midwest, I think, so not too far removed for an accidental Pika migration. Otherwise, I'm not too concerned about biological accuracy for this campaign. Just as long as it's close enough.
And good call on the Hyrax. I don't think there'd be any in our particular setting, unfortunately. Sounds like Pika is a nice alternative tho!
@Opheodrys:
Sounds great! I'm looking forward to seeing your story!
Hey, I’m moon, i‘m aged between 3 and 300. Pronouns are She/They/It/It’s/Them/Her. I love D&D. I am chaotic neutral irl. I’m not afraid to punch someone. Mess with me and you’ll find out the hard way. extended sig
I am the goddess of the moon, the tides, and the axolotls
Hey, I’m moon, i‘m aged between 3 and 300. Pronouns are She/They/It/It’s/Them/Her. I love D&D. I am chaotic neutral irl. I’m not afraid to punch someone. Mess with me and you’ll find out the hard way. extended sig
I am the goddess of the moon, the tides, and the axolotls
Dang, what a shame, it doesn't seem like this one is getting enough traction. I guess NIMH is a bit too niche, because not even I have a clue what it is. I love projects like this, though, it serves as a PSA on wildlife and conservation. I'm willing to play multiple characters if you really, really can't get enough players.
My pika character probably comes from Glacier National Park, Montana. Growing up in Thailand, I've always wanted to visit American rockies. I used to live in tropical lowlands and to be able to see tall mountains and snow is my dream.
She's probably sort of nerdy type character, she knows a lot about nature and gets excited when she sees a new species, even though that species might try to eat her. She's probably a Ranger, not sure about subclass yet, but it'd fit her personality better than other classes.
For her backstory, I haven’t come up with a more detailed version yet, but it will definitely involve global warming and habitat destruction too. Serves as a PSA more than anything.
I'm not sure which state in the Midwest this takes place in, if it's North Dakota, South Dakota, or Nebraska, she might simply walk into the farm. If it's further than that, then she might get lost and accidentally hop on a train or some sort.
One moee thing, I might give her a Native American name. I name my characters anything but English names, it's just too boring and bland to me (I'm not entirely sure how animals name themselves in NIMH, though.) I'm willing to compromise, though.
"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
Dang, what a shame, it doesn't seem like this one is getting enough traction. I guess NIMH is a bit too niche, because not even I have a clue what it is. I love projects like this, though, it serves as a PSA on wildlife and conservation. I'm willing to play multiple characters if you really, really can't get enough players.
My pika character probably comes from Glacier National Park, Montana. Growing up in Thailand, I've always wanted to visit American rockies. I used to live in tropical lowlands and to be able to see tall mountains and snow is my dream.
She's probably sort of nerdy type character, she knows a lot about nature and gets excited when she sees a new species, even though that species might try to eat her. She's probably a Ranger, not sure about subclass yet, but it'd fit her personality better than other classes.
For her backstory, I haven’t come up with a more detailed version yet, but it will definitely involve global warming and habitat destruction too. Serves as a PSA more than anything.
I'm not sure which state in the Midwest this takes place in, if it's North Dakota, South Dakota, or Nebraska, she might simply walk into the farm. If it's further than that, then she might get lost and accidentally hop on a train or some sort.
One moee thing, I might give her a Native American name. I name my characters anything but English names, it's just too boring and bland to me (I'm not entirely sure how animals name themselves in NIMH, though.) I'm willing to compromise, though.
idk but this is really cool so I want to join :D
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Hey, I’m moon, i‘m aged between 3 and 300. Pronouns are She/They/It/It’s/Them/Her. I love D&D. I am chaotic neutral irl. I’m not afraid to punch someone. Mess with me and you’ll find out the hard way. extended sig
I am the goddess of the moon, the tides, and the axolotls
Hey there, I have no clue what NIMH is and I haven't watched it, but I did read a lot of Redwall during my childhood. I heard it's quite similar to NIMH, but again, I'll go into this completely blind. Might add to the immersion too, considering my character is likely an outsider in this case.
One question: can I play as pika (More specifically, American pika?) They look like this (And yes, I know, they're adorable and I want to pet one of them IRL:
Pikas might look like a mouse, but they have no tail and they're more related to rabbits than rodents (Which, by the way, rabbits are technically not rodents since their genetic lines split a few million years earlier.) I'm not sure if you'd classify them as shrewfolk, mousefolk, rabbitfolk (the way nature intended), or something else completely.
The major problem with pikas and my character overall is they can only be found in Tibetian highlands or North America (in the case of my character), they can't be found in Europe or England (Assuming that's where the NIMH setting is, again, I'm sorry for my lack of knowledge of the lore). They're resistant to cold and sensitive to heat, in fact, scientists are concerned that global warming might affect their population. I'm not sure how biologically accurate you want each animal to be, but you can probably ignore this fact if your aim isn't making the most biologically accurate campaign possible.
I was originally going to go for hyrax, but there is no way they'd fit in the setting. They're the closest living relative to elephants and sea cows, but again, they aren't even remotely related to rodents or any woodland critters in that matter. I'll settle with pika instead, but if that doesn't work either, I'll settle with the ol' reliable rodents.
wait if you know Redwall, you might get this reference. Because wouldn’t it be funny if there was an artificier and barbarian badger? If you get the reference, then 🦡
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Hey, I’m moon, i‘m aged between 3 and 300. Pronouns are She/They/It/It’s/Them/Her. I love D&D. I am chaotic neutral irl. I’m not afraid to punch someone. Mess with me and you’ll find out the hard way. extended sig
I am the goddess of the moon, the tides, and the axolotls
I'm not sure about the badgers, though. As much as I want to be one, they might be a bit too biologically broken in this case, they aren't scared of humans and most predators just leave them alone... and they also eat pikas and mice, since they're omnivores.
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"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
Also, what if I made a fighter mousefolk named Martin the Warrior? Is that allowed?
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Hey, I’m moon, i‘m aged between 3 and 300. Pronouns are She/They/It/It’s/Them/Her. I love D&D. I am chaotic neutral irl. I’m not afraid to punch someone. Mess with me and you’ll find out the hard way. extended sig
I am the goddess of the moon, the tides, and the axolotls
Check the recruitment post. The deadline is listed as November 29th, 2023, or when I've recruited 6 players, whichever happens first.
I'd say YES, you can create a squirrel character, because I think it fits the aesthetic. I would say that, given a squirrels innate abilities, the best match I see for your squirrel build would be a Tabaxi (Legacy). Your size would become Tiny, of course.
A Mousefolk named Martin the Warrior would work too, especially considering that Martin was the son of one of the most important characters in the NIMH lore.
@ACNSuphalac:
We'll get there. I left the recruitments open for 10 days, start to finish, so I'm sure we'll get a decent pool of applicants once interested folks get a chance to apply. I know there are three applications being worked on at the moment.
I like your Pika. I'd say a Native name works. The characters in The Secret of NIMH have names like Jeremy (the crow character), Johnathan (a mouse), Justin and Nicodemus (rats), but I'm not terribly picky. I think one character that's being worked on is named Peanut...but I'm not 100% sure about that.
I'd say the most likely location of this campaign is in Missouri.
Check the recruitment post. The deadline is listed as November 29th, 2023, or when I've recruited 6 players, whichever happens first.
I'd say YES, you can create a squirrel character, because I think it fits the aesthetic. I would say that, given a squirrels innate abilities, the best match I see for your squirrel build would be a Tabaxi (Legacy). Your size would become Tiny, of course.
A Mousefolk named Martin the Warrior would work too, especially considering that Martin was the son of one of the most important characters in the NIMH lore.
@ACNSuphalac:
We'll get there. I left the recruitments open for 10 days, start to finish, so I'm sure we'll get a decent pool of applicants once interested folks get a chance to apply. I know there are three applications being worked on at the moment.
I like your Pika. I'd say a Native name works. The characters in The Secret of NIMH have names like Jeremy (the crow character), Johnathan (a mouse), Justin and Nicodemus (rats), but I'm not terribly picky. I think one character that's being worked on is named Peanut...but I'm not 100% sure about that.
I'd say the most likely location of this campaign is in Missouri.
Just so you know, the Martin the Warrior thing was a joke, because a character in Redwall is Martin the Warrior. Well a main character, because he’s pretty* important
*even after he dies the whole town of Redwall pretty much worships him
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Hey, I’m moon, i‘m aged between 3 and 300. Pronouns are She/They/It/It’s/Them/Her. I love D&D. I am chaotic neutral irl. I’m not afraid to punch someone. Mess with me and you’ll find out the hard way. extended sig
I am the goddess of the moon, the tides, and the axolotls
Her name is Dewdrop, a squirrel(tabaxi) rogue. Her size is tiny, obviously.
Her job is to steal from the humans, and she has to be stealthy. She is also going to jump at any chance she can to tell stories of her adventures. She has high charisma and can make friends easily. She likes to be the main focus in social events, but of course never when she steals from the humans.
Edit: Backstory. She’s lived in the wild her whole life because her parents couldn’t keep her, so she depends of stealth and trickery for survival. Her main job is being a theif, from both the humans, and the other rodents. Thats why her feat is wild born. She doesn’t have a specific home, just wherever people let her stay. She also has experience fighting and sneaking past the beasts of the farm, as she’s had several encounters. She loves social events as it gives her opportunities to a) pickpocket and b) share her stories with fellow adventurers. She usually works alone, but if she works in the team, she usually self appoints herself as the “leader”.
Dewdrop values people with courage because she has a lot herself but usually, she thinks of herself as more important than the rest of the party. Her background is charlatan and her alignment is chaotic good. Her feat is Wild Born.
Important: I dont own the art below and i do not claim any piece of it, credit to seyumi on deviantArt Link Here
Hey, I’m moon, i‘m aged between 3 and 300. Pronouns are She/They/It/It’s/Them/Her. I love D&D. I am chaotic neutral irl. I’m not afraid to punch someone. Mess with me and you’ll find out the hard way. extended sig
I am the goddess of the moon, the tides, and the axolotls
I’m still interested, but I’m not going to be submitting anything this evening. I should have something for you tomorrow, or possibly Wednesday, at latest.
I am also looking at Rogue, but an Intelligence-based build, without a high Charisma, or any focus on social skills. Shrew, if Wild Born, or Mouse, if I opt for NIMH Survivor.
I am very interested in this, despite never having heard of NIMH (or Redwall for that matter). If lack of knowledge is fine, I will be applying. Will be a Wild Born Mousefolk Monk (plan for way of shadows at level 3). More to come once I have had chance to make the character.
The good news for everyone is that no prior knowledge of NIMH will be required to have a good time. I've written it in a way that will integrate the characters just like any other campaign, and will roll the story out to them that way. No book or movie knowledge required.
On thing I have forgotten to mention is that I use Discord as a supplement to my campaigns. We will be posting the PBP here, but I use Discord for a lot of the dice rolls, as well as private channels for each player, a team chat, and easier map / picture sharing.
I'll be adding this to my original recruitment post.
DISCLAIMER: I do not claim to own any of this art and intend to use it only as a reference and to set the theme of the campaign.
As always...music to set the mood...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k8o8yNb6aM&list=PL80B2D945B64CE2DA
The Legacy of NIMH
Currently Closed to Recruitment
"I swear, it's the darndest thing." Farmer Fitzgibbons said just a second before the hood of the tractor flopped down on his head with a resounding thud. He uttered an indignant "ow!" and clamped the palm of his head against his scalp, trying to rub the smart out of the knot that was already forming there.
Nearby, his son Paul was still cleaning the carburetor parts with a rag, watching his father dig about in the machinery of the tractor. The boy was interested, though didn't know even remotely as much about the tractor as his father, so he did the simple things while his father did the actual mechanic work.
"Paul, are you sure you and your friends weren't building weird tater guns with the tractor parts again?" His dad said, growing serious and sounding more than a little frustrated. He was still rubbing his greasy hand against the thump he took on his head.
"No sir! I learned my lesson last time!" The boy said, stopping his cleaning of the parts. "I thought I was going to have to have a butt transplant when you were done with us."
"I just don't understand it." Farmer Fitzgibbon said, raising the hood of the tractor back up and looking inside. "A fuel line. Coil cables. The fuel filter. Who would steal all that stuff? And why? I mean, I someone did, obviously. I just don't understand..."
A life lived in secret...
All of the animals of the Fitzgibbon Farm know about the rats that live in the rosebush in front of the farm house. They know, too, that these aren't just normal rats. There is something weird about them. Something off. Something too smart, and somehow too secret, but none of them can exactly put their finger on what it is. There's the weird flashes of light that can be seen from the bush from time to time. There are the rats, sometimes leaving the bush together as a well organized troop to steal from the farmer, and then there are the whispers, from the fields to the forest, about the subteranean stronghold...but no one really knows what this means. No one, that is, but the rats of course.
It's not just the rats that live in secret, though. The mice, the shrews, all the little animals living around the Fitzgibbon Farm have their secrets. Some are more important in the grand scheme than others, of course, but, truth be told, the entirety of their lives are secret. Secrets to avoid the farmer, and Dragon. Secret hiding places where they can be safe, keep food, raise families...
Danger is literally everywhere in The Legacy of NIMH. The farmer's cat, Dragon, patrols the farm with ferocious hunger, always seeking out his next meal, while new, younger cats have been seen around the farm house. There are dogs that live for the thrill of killing. There are chickens that will devour a shrew if given the chance.
There is an element of stealth that is recommended for the game. Rogues and Rangers have sought after skill sets, but all sorts of class combinations will be needed to survive in this tough world.
Not all encounters are meant to be fought. Many will be there to test your ability to survive. Skills like Stealth, Survival, Sleight of Hand, and Nature will be paramount. As the DM, I recommend that even if you build a Fighter or Barbarian, you try to work in couple of skills that would normally be outside a typical build for such a character. Since this is a lower tech setting, there won't be very many sets of Plate or Half-Plate armor out there, so this may not be such a bad thing...
A world of limited magic and technology...
The tractor is the pinnacle of technology, as far as you're concerned. A hulking behemoth of electrical systems, combustion engines, gears and axles, most of which you can't comprehend how it works. When the tiny swords and knives your kind has adopted began to show up, or even the worked leather armor and simple clothing, it revolutionized how your people lived.
When you first heard about magic...well, you didn't know what to do with the information. The power to manipulate fate and physics, the world around you, with simple incantations? How is that even possible? But it was...though it seems to be very limited and rare, especially amongst your people. Only the rats seem to have any decent grasp of what it is, even they're not sharing the secret. From what you gather, most of them don't know how it works either. What a mysterious force...
You won't be able to find any sets of Full Plate in The Legacy of NIMH, and Half Plate will be rare and unavailable at starting. Chain mail will also be very rare but not unheard of, but if you have it you'll have to justify how. Metallurgy amongst the animals of the farm is simply too uncommon to make such things easy to come across.
Full Casters are extremely rare as well, and I will probably only recruit one for the campaign. Half Casters will be a little more common, though, but ALL casters will have their spell slots reduced by 1 per level, to a minimum of 1. That means if you'd normally have two Level 1 spell slots, you'll only have 1 instead. ALL spell slots recharge after Long Rests instead of Short Rests.
In the shadow of giants...
Even amongst the animals of the farm, you are small. The cats, the dogs, the hawk, the dreaded owl that comes at night, even the livestock...they're all bigger than you are. Because of this, danger abounds. You could be snatched by hungry jaws or talons just as easily as you could be accidentally stepped on by a lumbering bovine.
It's not all bad, though. You can live where others cannot enter, and disappear down holes and tunnels their hands cannot reach into.
For the Wild Born, this has been the way of life for time immemorial. They have grown up in it, evolved to it, been molded by the world.
For the NIMH Survivors, it's a new experience. Having been torn from their wild homes years ago and changed by the scientists as the National Institute of Mental Health, they're finding where they now fit in this world. They're not quite wild animals, and not human either...
Enemy encounters will be deadly by nature. Starting at low levels and working your way up with limited tech and magic, simple encounters will be very dangerous, and there's always the threat of the bigger enemies finding you and initiating combat. Dragon and the hawk will always be hunting you, and being found in a house by a human will not be a good thing. There is a saying that goes something like -
The better part of valor is discretion
But you know this already. It's in your very nature.
To break the cycle of survival...
Summer has gone, and autumn is in full color as the leaves begin to fall from the trees. Farmer Fitzgibbon works to get his tractor running again so that he can mow down the fields, destroying dozens of homes and clearing the lands so that there is no where left for you to hide. Soon the corn will be harvested for silage, the gardens will be turned under for the winter, and the world will be too barren for you to venture out. How many will die? How many will lose homes?
And then there are the rumors... You're all starting to hear them. Rumors here. Rumors there. Rumors that, if true, will threaten your survival...and the survival of your friends...
The coming of winter presents a danger to you all, as it does every year. However, this year, the farmer's new bushhog threatens to clear out the fields of high grass and short scrub that you rely upon for seeds and food as well as cover during the cold months. It also means that nests and homes will be wiped clear. It's hard to keep your existence a secret by sabotaging the tractor...but someone has already beat you to it. And they've done a thorough job.
The problem is, that has created problems in itself. You will all be brought together by the various secrets and rumors this sabotage has exposed, and it will be up to you all to come together, link the pieces of the puzzle together, and learn the truth of what is happening before it is too late...
How To Apply
I don't want to see the usual character application here. I want you to get creative. Usually folks give you a list of "show me your ASIs, your background, description", all that. I DO want that...but I don't want it laid out in a list. That tells me who your character is. I want you to show me. Give me a story of who your character is and tell me how you intend to play them. Work the details into it. If you want to mention the mechanics here, that's fine, but I am far more interested in seeing who your character is and how they live in the world than I am hearing about your character sheet.
I invite you to provide art in your application, if you'd like.
Get creative! Have fun!
Another point I'd like to add; this campaign won't start immediately. I want to spend some time with the characters building backstories, writing the back stories into the campaign, and figuring out how they fit together as a team. Who knows who? How?
And please, REACH OUT TO ME if you want to get a head start on working your character into the world as you create your application. Do note, however, that this does not guarantee that you'll be picked. It simply helps.
A few important notes-
One thing I forgot to mention: you will need Discord! I use Discord to create private player channels for coordination with each of you, as well as easier map / picture sharing, dice rolling, and team chat.
The Homebrew Races
Shrewfolk-
https://www.dndbeyond.com/races/1524578-shrewfolk
Mousefolk-
https://www.dndbeyond.com/races/1524574-mousefolk
Ratfolk-
https://www.dndbeyond.com/races/1524576-ratfolk
The Homebrew Starter Feats
Wild Born Starter Feat-
https://www.dndbeyond.com/feats/1510865-wild-born
NIMH Survivor Starter Feat-
https://www.dndbeyond.com/feats/1510872-nimh-survivor
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
This looks lovely. I don't have time for another other play-by-post campaign at the moment, but if I did, I'd definitely be talking to you about submitting a barbarian crow!
Hey there, I have no clue what NIMH is and I haven't watched it, but I did read a lot of Redwall during my childhood. I heard it's quite similar to NIMH, but again, I'll go into this completely blind. Might add to the immersion too, considering my character is likely an outsider in this case.
One question: can I play as pika (More specifically, American pika?) They look like this (And yes, I know, they're adorable and I want to pet one of them IRL:
Pikas might look like a mouse, but they have no tail and they're more related to rabbits than rodents (Which, by the way, rabbits are technically not rodents since their genetic lines split a few million years earlier.) I'm not sure if you'd classify them as shrewfolk, mousefolk, rabbitfolk (the way nature intended), or something else completely.
The major problem with pikas and my character overall is they can only be found in Tibetian highlands or North America (in the case of my character), they can't be found in Europe or England (Assuming that's where the NIMH setting is, again, I'm sorry for my lack of knowledge of the lore). They're resistant to cold and sensitive to heat, in fact, scientists are concerned that global warming might affect their population. I'm not sure how biologically accurate you want each animal to be, but you can probably ignore this fact if your aim isn't making the most biologically accurate campaign possible.
I was originally going to go for hyrax, but there is no way they'd fit in the setting. They're the closest living relative to elephants and sea cows, but again, they aren't even remotely related to rodents or any woodland critters in that matter. I'll settle with pika instead, but if that doesn't work either, I'll settle with the ol' reliable rodents.
"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
—Richard Dawkins
DM—Stories From The End of The World: Episode I
Absolutely interested! I’ll submit a story later today.
@Ben_Evolent:
Thanks! I appreciate the kind word. And a barbarian crow would really be something to see haha.
@ACNSuphalak:
I am actually not familiar with Redwall, but it came up a LOT as I researched for this campaign. From what I saw, they look very similar.
I am open to you applying as a Pika. HOWEVER, I think we need to work together to figure out how this character fits in. Being a Lagomorph, I think that a Pika would probably work best as a modified Harengon, but if you have suggestions I am open to hearing them. We also need to figure out where this Pika came from and how it got to the Fitzgibbon Farm. Are they an escaped pet? Are they simply misplaced, not sure how they got their in their wandering and no idea how to get home? Maybe they rode in on a cargo truck or something by accident?
The story will be set somewhere in the American midwest, I think, so not too far removed for an accidental Pika migration. Otherwise, I'm not too concerned about biological accuracy for this campaign. Just as long as it's close enough.
And good call on the Hyrax. I don't think there'd be any in our particular setting, unfortunately. Sounds like Pika is a nice alternative tho!
@Opheodrys:
Sounds great! I'm looking forward to seeing your story!
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Wow is there a deadline bc this looks cool
also do you take new players?
Hey, I’m moon, i‘m aged between 3 and 300. Pronouns are She/They/It/It’s/Them/Her. I love D&D. I am chaotic neutral irl. I’m not afraid to punch someone. Mess with me and you’ll find out the hard way. extended sig
I am the goddess of the moon, the tides, and the axolotls
I am not a furry, I am a fishie.
Also, can I be a squirrel?
Hey, I’m moon, i‘m aged between 3 and 300. Pronouns are She/They/It/It’s/Them/Her. I love D&D. I am chaotic neutral irl. I’m not afraid to punch someone. Mess with me and you’ll find out the hard way. extended sig
I am the goddess of the moon, the tides, and the axolotls
I am not a furry, I am a fishie.
Dang, what a shame, it doesn't seem like this one is getting enough traction. I guess NIMH is a bit too niche, because not even I have a clue what it is. I love projects like this, though, it serves as a PSA on wildlife and conservation. I'm willing to play multiple characters if you really, really can't get enough players.
My pika character probably comes from Glacier National Park, Montana. Growing up in Thailand, I've always wanted to visit American rockies. I used to live in tropical lowlands and to be able to see tall mountains and snow is my dream.
She's probably sort of nerdy type character, she knows a lot about nature and gets excited when she sees a new species, even though that species might try to eat her. She's probably a Ranger, not sure about subclass yet, but it'd fit her personality better than other classes.
For her backstory, I haven’t come up with a more detailed version yet, but it will definitely involve global warming and habitat destruction too. Serves as a PSA more than anything.
I'm not sure which state in the Midwest this takes place in, if it's North Dakota, South Dakota, or Nebraska, she might simply walk into the farm. If it's further than that, then she might get lost and accidentally hop on a train or some sort.
One moee thing, I might give her a Native American name. I name my characters anything but English names, it's just too boring and bland to me (I'm not entirely sure how animals name themselves in NIMH, though.) I'm willing to compromise, though.
"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
—Richard Dawkins
DM—Stories From The End of The World: Episode I
idk but this is really cool so I want to join :D
Hey, I’m moon, i‘m aged between 3 and 300. Pronouns are She/They/It/It’s/Them/Her. I love D&D. I am chaotic neutral irl. I’m not afraid to punch someone. Mess with me and you’ll find out the hard way. extended sig
I am the goddess of the moon, the tides, and the axolotls
I am not a furry, I am a fishie.
wait if you know Redwall, you might get this reference. Because wouldn’t it be funny if there was an artificier and barbarian badger? If you get the reference, then 🦡
Hey, I’m moon, i‘m aged between 3 and 300. Pronouns are She/They/It/It’s/Them/Her. I love D&D. I am chaotic neutral irl. I’m not afraid to punch someone. Mess with me and you’ll find out the hard way. extended sig
I am the goddess of the moon, the tides, and the axolotls
I am not a furry, I am a fishie.
I'm not sure about the badgers, though. As much as I want to be one, they might be a bit too biologically broken in this case, they aren't scared of humans and most predators just leave them alone... and they also eat pikas and mice, since they're omnivores.
"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
—Richard Dawkins
DM—Stories From The End of The World: Episode I
Also, what if I made a fighter mousefolk named Martin the Warrior? Is that allowed?
Hey, I’m moon, i‘m aged between 3 and 300. Pronouns are She/They/It/It’s/Them/Her. I love D&D. I am chaotic neutral irl. I’m not afraid to punch someone. Mess with me and you’ll find out the hard way. extended sig
I am the goddess of the moon, the tides, and the axolotls
I am not a furry, I am a fishie.
@Moon137:
Check the recruitment post. The deadline is listed as November 29th, 2023, or when I've recruited 6 players, whichever happens first.
I'd say YES, you can create a squirrel character, because I think it fits the aesthetic. I would say that, given a squirrels innate abilities, the best match I see for your squirrel build would be a Tabaxi (Legacy). Your size would become Tiny, of course.
A Mousefolk named Martin the Warrior would work too, especially considering that Martin was the son of one of the most important characters in the NIMH lore.
@ACNSuphalac:
We'll get there. I left the recruitments open for 10 days, start to finish, so I'm sure we'll get a decent pool of applicants once interested folks get a chance to apply. I know there are three applications being worked on at the moment.
I like your Pika. I'd say a Native name works. The characters in The Secret of NIMH have names like Jeremy (the crow character), Johnathan (a mouse), Justin and Nicodemus (rats), but I'm not terribly picky. I think one character that's being worked on is named Peanut...but I'm not 100% sure about that.
I'd say the most likely location of this campaign is in Missouri.
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Just so you know, the Martin the Warrior thing was a joke, because a character in Redwall is Martin the Warrior. Well a main character, because he’s pretty* important
*even after he dies the whole town of Redwall pretty much worships him
Hey, I’m moon, i‘m aged between 3 and 300. Pronouns are She/They/It/It’s/Them/Her. I love D&D. I am chaotic neutral irl. I’m not afraid to punch someone. Mess with me and you’ll find out the hard way. extended sig
I am the goddess of the moon, the tides, and the axolotls
I am not a furry, I am a fishie.
So for my character:
Her name is Dewdrop, a squirrel(tabaxi) rogue. Her size is tiny, obviously.
Her job is to steal from the humans, and she has to be stealthy. She is also going to jump at any chance she can to tell stories of her adventures. She has high charisma and can make friends easily. She likes to be the main focus in social events, but of course never when she steals from the humans.
Edit: Backstory. She’s lived in the wild her whole life because her parents couldn’t keep her, so she depends of stealth and trickery for survival. Her main job is being a theif, from both the humans, and the other rodents. Thats why her feat is wild born. She doesn’t have a specific home, just wherever people let her stay. She also has experience fighting and sneaking past the beasts of the farm, as she’s had several encounters. She loves social events as it gives her opportunities to a) pickpocket and b) share her stories with fellow adventurers. She usually works alone, but if she works in the team, she usually self appoints herself as the “leader”.
Dewdrop values people with courage because she has a lot herself but usually, she thinks of herself as more important than the rest of the party. Her background is charlatan and her alignment is chaotic good. Her feat is Wild Born.
Important: I dont own the art below and i do not claim any piece of it, credit to seyumi on deviantArt Link Here
Hey, I’m moon, i‘m aged between 3 and 300. Pronouns are She/They/It/It’s/Them/Her. I love D&D. I am chaotic neutral irl. I’m not afraid to punch someone. Mess with me and you’ll find out the hard way. extended sig
I am the goddess of the moon, the tides, and the axolotls
I am not a furry, I am a fishie.
I’m still interested, but I’m not going to be submitting anything this evening. I should have something for you tomorrow, or possibly Wednesday, at latest.
I am also looking at Rogue, but an Intelligence-based build, without a high Charisma, or any focus on social skills. Shrew, if Wild Born, or Mouse, if I opt for NIMH Survivor.
@Moon137:
Ahh, I see. I didn't realize Martin was the name of a prominent character in both series. Interesting.
@Opheodrys
No rush. Take your time and do your thing. :)
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
I am very interested in this, despite never having heard of NIMH (or Redwall for that matter). If lack of knowledge is fine, I will be applying. Will be a Wild Born Mousefolk Monk (plan for way of shadows at level 3). More to come once I have had chance to make the character.
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
The good news for everyone is that no prior knowledge of NIMH will be required to have a good time. I've written it in a way that will integrate the characters just like any other campaign, and will roll the story out to them that way. No book or movie knowledge required.
On thing I have forgotten to mention is that I use Discord as a supplement to my campaigns. We will be posting the PBP here, but I use Discord for a lot of the dice rolls, as well as private channels for each player, a team chat, and easier map / picture sharing.
I'll be adding this to my original recruitment post.
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
This sounds...Awesome.
Lore, Lore, and More! That's what I'm about!
PM me if you wish for some lore on a person or place!