DM Stormchaser here. I've been running tabletop games of many kinds for almost 15 years now. DnD/Pathfinder has been my bread and butter, as well as a lot of Star Wars Saga (basically DnD) along with some World of Darkness, WFRP/Inquisitor/Rogue Trader, GURPS, Call of Cthulu, etc, etc.
I'm looking to start up a PbP 5e game here on the D&D Beyond boards. The game would take place in a world of my own creation and begins at a small mining settlement high in the mountains. I'm looking for a party of 4 level 1 PCs to become the heroes of this community before they grow into their big boy/girl pants. ;)
I have a rough direction, but will more or less improvise around the actions of the PCs, so this will be very sandboxy and the players should be prepared to take the initiative themselves. There is a dynamic world around you that will respond to your actions appropriately.
I place value on RP, good style and everybody having fun over any kind of rules lawyering. I will liberally house rule to make things fit the story we are telling together. My timezone is CEST/UTC+1/GMT+2.
This recruitment will not be on a first-come-first-served basis. I would like to see well thought out character concepts and will pick the four that synergise best with each other and with the setting. Feel free to ask plenty of questions and I look forward to seeing your character concepts!
I'd be interested in submitting a human wizard, but curious what sort of access he would have to magical training in the small mining town, if any? The general concept is the classic orphaned at a temple to the deity of Knowledge and he is a bookish sort who is very naive of the outside world, but I'm not sure if he would fit the starting area. Which, if that's the case I can easily come up with something else! I have a Grave cleric idea that would work great here I think if it would fit easier.
it would be possible to be the apprentice of the local arcane caster, although they themselves would not be of especially high level. Just enough to set them aside from the rabble.
Most humans here originate from the kingdom of Breanne, which lies to the east. There are probably as many dwarves as humans and those two races make up the two largest ethnic groups in the mines.
hi! very excited by this, been playing dnd for awhile but almost always as a dm, love getting the chance to play. here's what I'm thinking so far:
Name: Vark Galestone
Class: Storm Sorcerer
Alignment: True Neutral
Background: Folk hero
Personality: Shy, skittish, soft spoken, finds it hard to process that some people are actually intimidated by his orcish appearance
Background: Vark grew up as an outcast in an isolated tribe of orcs, which lived on the slopes of a massive mountain. The boy was raised by his mother, who tried her best to protect him from the harsh treatment he received from the other orcs. Their tribe worshipped a storm giant that lived at the peak of their mountain, giving him offerings regularly with the belief that his favor allowed them to live on the mountain. The entire summit was prone to frequent storms, as the very tip of the mountain scraped against the elemental plane of air, likely why the giant chose it as his home.. It was during one such storm that Vark was forced to go deliver an offering to the giant. On his trek, the storm intensified, winds knocking over his cart and sending him falling onto the icy path. Ashe stood, he was struck by planar lightning. The energy coursed through his body, leaving branching scars across his skin, but his hardy orc form managed to survive the blast. Vark was left imbued with the magic of the plane of air, and he soon discovered he could channel lightning through his hands and create bursts of thunder. This event gained him renown among his tribe, but at the suggestion of his mother, he fled, for the giant would eventually learn of the boy's new connection to the plane of air, if he hadn't already. There's no telling what the storm giant would do, maybe take Vark as a trophy, or maybe sacrifice him as part of some esoteric ritual. So Vark set off, hiking across the mountain range, stopping occasionally at hunting lodges and mining towns.
Definitely down to fill another role if theres too many damage dealing spellcasters though. Also have an idea for a high elf celestial patron warlock, bound to a sphinx who gives him strange omens and riddles that lead him on a seemingly aimless path, but the enigmatic and curious elf is happy to oblige.
Hi Stormchaser! This sounds interesting so far. I've been thinking about a Firbolg Druid who travels the region visiting towns in the spring and summer to ensure all have a strong harvest by way of spells like druidcraft or, more specifically, plant growth. (Love that spell as one aspect seems great for a RP background, while the other is versatile for manipulating the party's surroundings in or out of combat.) . I could easily adapt this to a lvl 1 character that is just starting out with this endeavor and doesn't even have plant growth yet, but is that tough with the starting town being high in the mountains? They must need food still, so perhaps he helps them get the most out of a small patch of mountain dirt? Just figured I'd get your thoughts on how he might fit before fully fleshing out the character idea.
Also, I hope to avoid too much summoning as a druid as it can really bog things down, but could see doing it a little bit and trying to keep it to small numbers of creatures (ideally just 1 at a time, once or twice a day) and creating them as NPC's that the character knows and summons from the Feywild or something for aid (no mechanical advantage, just for RP purposes). I think of this as 'reskinning' more than asking to truly homebrew anything since there is no mechanical change other than perhaps speech. I say this in part because some of the lvl 2 aspects of the Shepherd druid appeal to me but that subclass also comes with summoning features. I could switch to another subclass, of course. Would want to get your thoughts on that before getting too far along with the character.
Lastly, would you like a full character sheet with the application, or more just the concept? If the former, should we do point buy?
PS If a dwarf is more sensible in the mining town, dwarven nature cleric is also on my list!
I wuold be interested in joing this campaign! I would love to be a Dwarven Cleric of the Forge. I had such fun playing the last forge cleric which died in the jungles of chult too soon. So I would love to try it out again. I could be in the mines.
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Mavi Göz Mal - Half Orc Monk Level 1 Not Another Lost Mine of Phandelver
Drita - Aasimar Hexblade Warlock Lvl 3 Tomb of Annhilation
I have been toying with the idea of playing a half-elf ranger who is being paid to protect the area's around the mines. He has lived in the mountains of the area and doesn't really care for the civilizations around the mines but since he knows the area around the mine and needs the money to send his son to magic school in Breanne. He doesn't really trust full humans as he fears that they would dislike him because he is not fully human. He finds any areas with too many people to be a bother and avoids visiting them unnecessarily (including even to visit his son in Breanne).
I am unsure exactly at this point what his Sworn Enemy would be. I would have to discuss with you more about the world and creatures in the area to figure out exactly what that foe would be.
He eventually would become a beast master who's companion is a goat from his former wife's family goat farm.
Let me know if you want any more information or elaboration about this character or have any advice on improving this application.
Archibald comes from a long line of swindlers and cheats. His grandfather would tell him glorious tales of his past adventures from his old worn journal. He helped his family pulling cons and tricking people out of their goods; although he never really felt like he belonged. Then the day came when his grandfather past away. Grief stricken and ashamed to never be able to live up to the great adventures of the one gnome he looked up to. He took his grandfathers journal and set off to make his grandfather proud. Become an adventurer and fill up his own journal for his children to read.
(I would plan on a lot of the pages being gibberish to Archie, until he levels up and is able to decipher the spells from his grandpas text. Maybe even have the be random or let you decide what’s in there)
Hurrig is a miner in the town, an ex-mercenary who has come to town to lay low and leave his past behind him. He became one of the leaders in his mercenary gang and has many connections and is a wanted man by many different groups of people. However he hopes to have found isolation in the little mining town.
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Mavi Göz Mal - Half Orc Monk Level 1 Not Another Lost Mine of Phandelver
Drita - Aasimar Hexblade Warlock Lvl 3 Tomb of Annhilation
And here comes Thurston Barnatson, human paladin of the Thunder God ( he will become barbarian too if multiclassing allowed)
Thurston had been kind of a troublemaker his whole life... until after a particular violent storm took down his house with his parents inside. He was able to save them, but he devoted his life to the Thunder God from that point on. He still loves a good brawl, and drinks and feast as much as he can, but also defends those who cannot do for themselves. He is passionate in everything he does, as the Lighting and Thunder that are his God signature. ( try to think of a viking who prays to Thor before charging into battle ;) )
Lot’s of spellcasters here, but...I would like to try to bring in a warlock. Eventually I’d like them to turn into some sort of craftsmen, but yeah. I can come up with more details and history later on when I’m at home.
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Liam the Weak: Level 4 Human Fighter - Trying to fight against his other personality, and constantly losing.
Aodh: Level 20 Half-Elf Cleric of Life - Not really. It's a strange being that had possessed and broke down a level 20 Cleric of Life Domain, gaining his knowledge and power.
"*****": Level 1 Tiefling Sorcerer - Her family is dead, and her will is broken. She follows orders so that those that command her will allow her to die.
Background: Bründir is generally known as a friend around town, and occasionally as the town drunk. Not to say he's married to his mug, but you can always find him at the inn when he isn't helping at the mine or around town. Regardless of opinion toward him, Bründir puts the people first and the town just behind them. A small influence (no pun intended) in the town's hierarchy has not stopped him from becoming extremely vocal when harmful matters arise. When a foreman hires a thug or two as supervisors, Bründir is the first to rally a few friends to put the newcomers in line. If the mayor wants to levy new taxes, Bründir stands at the head of a crowd demanding the people to be heard and, when needed, stands in boisterous protest for days until his people are heard.
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Characters:
Grishkar Darkmoor, Necromancer of Nerull the Despiser Kelvin Rabbitfoot, Diviner, con artist, always hunting for a good sale Bründir Halfshield, Valor Bard, three-time Sheercleft Drinking Competition Champion, Hometown hero
I've been known around the forums to play a pretty decent Inquisitive rogue. If you're interested in having me:
"I've had a violent childhood, a shady past, and i'm all sorts of messed up inside, but i'm deadly in a fight. I've been trained to investigate, and kill. I'm hot-headed, have huge sass, little patience, but loyal to those who have my ass, and you'll want me on your team. If not, I don't care. I'm kind of a mercenary for hire now, since I got fired from my job years ago. I've got nowhere else to go right now, and I've seen all sorts of messed up. I can dish it out, and take a whole bunch. If you need something killed, or stuff checked out, i'm your gal. Just don't get in my way."
I post regularly, i'm a player and a sometimes a DM on here with years of experience.
Name: Cora "Crispy" Perkins
Age: Mid 20s
Race: Human
Class: Investigator Rogue
Short Bio: Crispy used to be a Special Forces soldier before she was terminated and exiled from the city she grew up in. This happened recently if we're starting at level 1. Always on the run, always watching her back, not exactly knowing where to go next. She has a very dark and abusive past, and is slow to trust with a sassy attitude. She's trying to make things right in her world, where it seems everyone and everything is against her. She's not proud of her past, and she's done some terrible things, but there's always an opportunity to try and do the right thing and live a "normal" life while trying to put the pieces of her life back together.
I've got a story I'm working on that includes dragons doing a coming of age ritual where they disguise themselves as other races to go on an adventure and I think this would be a good opportunity to play such a character to get a feel for how it would work. They would basically work as whatever race they were disguised as (in this case, human) with maybe a feat or something where once a day they can do a dragon thing? The concept is still in the works so I could workshop with you on this, but I also have a more traditional character idea if you don't want to do that.
The more traditional character is a half orc/half elf ranger, raised by his elf mother after they were exiled. The elves didn't like that one of their own got with an orc and had a 'half breed'. His mother was very loving though, so he has a bright personality, if a little blunt and confused about social interactions due to being raised away from other people. On her death bed, my characters mother gave him an amulet that belonged to his father and encouraged him to find him, as the father didn't know the woman he loved had even had a child. I imagine the mining town is the first settlement he comes across on his quest to find his father. I would like my character to have a deer mount, but it's not necessary.
it's great to see such a broad response. I'd like to start by outlining some additional information about the setting that should help everybody fine-tune their characters and get a better feeling for what I'm looking for.
As I mentioned in my first post, the first section of this campaign will be focused around a mining village that goes by the name of Sheercleft. Sheercleft is located in a range of mountains known as the Ice Cap Peaks and the village itself bridges the Sheercleft Ravine. The ravine is very narrow and very deep and much of the mining operation is concentrated on carving into its sides, which are rich with ore. Sheercleft itself has a population of a few hundred and given the treacherous environment (both above and below ground) anybody who isn't a local has likely signed on to work as a guard of some kind. The village is not self-sufficient in terms of food and other supplies and relies heavily on trade caravans. These originate either from nearby dwarven holds, or they come up the mountain from Breanne.
The Ice Caps run roughly north-south, with a spur that sticks out east into Breanne. On its west the range borders the vast Eldren forest, which is primarily inhabited by elves. Following the mountains north takes one deeper into Dwarven territory and the further south one goes the colder things get and the more orcs, trolls, giants and the like become a problem. I could go on, but this is just one region of Arden, the entirety of which I do have mapped. I'll gladly answer any specific questions that people have.
@Lyrel Just spotted your edit. You're right that a temple of knowledge doesn't really fit the starting area, but if you're prepared to modify the concept to fit the setting I won't rule a wizard out. Feel free to post your grave cleric idea, but be aware that I'm already considering two divine casters.
@Sphynxyy Your half-orc storm sorcerer sounds very interesting! I'm afraid that the elemental plane of air wouldn't just brush the material plane like that here, so we'd have to adjust the background to their powers there a bit. Maybe a side effect of growing up in close proximity to the giant's constant storm magic?
@Hexblade37 A firbolg in this region would almost certainly have come up out of Eldren forest. While the plant element wouldn't be as pronounced, a druid would almost certainly be welcome amongst the miners, if only as a healer. They would have to make liberal use of their disguise-self ability though, as I don't know if the community would just outright accept a firbolg walking in. The shepherd druid should be fine. One advantage of pbp is that (as long as you, the player, include ALL actions in your post) no time is actually lost on the summons in combat, because we're not sat around a table waiting for actions to be resolved.
All that said, a dwarven cleric would fit in really naturally, so think about what you would really want. I'll only be considering characters with backstories, so you would need to put something together. EDIT - You asked about stat generation. I'll probably use the elite array, because I like that it encourages stats that aren't too min-maxed. I'll be open to moving a point about here or there in specific cases though.
@Agonzo516 A dwarven forge cleric would also fit in perfectly. As your concept stands it sounds a little too experienced for level 1, since he is supposed to have led a mercenary gang! Maybe he joined a gang and realised it wasn't for him and now they want him dead for leaving? You and Hexblade37 will likely be competing for that slot, since I'm unlikely to take two characters that are too similar in party role.
@decjimmy A half-elf ranger would be a good fit given the proximity of both Breanne and Eldren forest. I would like to use the most recent Unearthed Arcana Revised Ranger, but that also has a beast conclave, which is equivalent to the beast master archetype.
@CraigTJones Archibald sounds fun! As a forest gnome he would likely also have come up into the mountains from Eldren forest. How do you feel about that and what are his motivations for coming to a mining village?
@FrandalSilvereyes While I tend to discourage multiclassing, I won't outright forbid it if you really want to do it. A viking type warrior sounds very fitting. Beyond the southern most reaches of the Ice Cap peaks is a frozen coastline littered with many islands. This region is inhabited by a fierce human culture of warriors, who are, for practical purposes, Norse. Thurston could in principle hail from there.
@Barlow Okay this guy really made me chuckle, he sounds fantastic.
@CrispyDM Can you be more specific about what you mean by 'special forces', because that's quite a modern concept for this setting.
@SpaceSnake95 I would rather keep this to more traditional races. The dragon thing sounds interesting, but not very appropriate for the game I have in mind. Similarly, in this setting orcs and elves can't breed. Only humans can crossbreed with those species. The child of a half-orc and half-elf would come out mechanically human.
Having read through all of these (very good) proposals, I would like to see some writing samples from:
Sphynxyy, Hexblade37, Agonzo516, decjimmy, CraigTJones, FrandalSilvereyes and Barlow.
That is not to say that everybody else is out, but I'm happy enough with the ideas here that I would like to see how these players write. Please write a short scene featuring the character in a tavern or the woods or doing whatever it is they do. Enough to give me a feel for the style of who I'll be playing with. :)
@Stormchaser, I would happily work around general idea of my wizard to make him fit better into the setting! Although after reading over some more of the material presented about the setting, I'm actually leaning a little bit more towards a Storm Herald barbarian as I've been itching to try out them out in 5E. Given the mountain settings I thought perhaps a goliath might be appropriate, but I wanted to get your thoughts on that option before I delve into the background more.
Yes, I can see a tundra Storm Herald working nicely! A goliath would probably have come up from the south. He'd likely be tolerated for his strength, but there would be a degree of intolerance because of the giant blood, especially from dwarves. Do throw together a background for him. :)
Archie sits at the bar with a drink tapping his fort ...well he would be tapping if his feet could reach the floor. He spins around in the stool to take in the scene: people dancing, the band playing loudly in the background, drinks being sloshed and slammed together in celebration. He takes himself over to a booth in the corner to begin writing in his journal.
A waitress walks by; he quickly reaches after her “I think we should keep it going, another round on me” as he gives her a wink and tosses some gold. He goes back to writing in his journal:
I guess I haven’t given up all of my family’s tricks, still got sticky fingers... but it’s to make others happy, which I hope is a step in the right direction.
Archie closes his books, hops down from the seat, and joins in on the dancing.
I've got an idea for a Variant Human Folk Hero Rogue. Sparrow has lived in the town her whole life, her father is a miner, her mother died in childbirth. Generally a bit of a mischief maker she's got a little bit of a bad reputation in town for practical jokes and other adolescent shenanigans. She has a bit of an uptick in reputation after she after got back the local bakers life savings after a disreputable merchant swindled the baker. Of course, the real reason she tracked him down was to get back her own money, but she's not avberse to doing the right thing on occasion.
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Liarin: Against the Cult of the Reptile God Adewild: Shadows and Light 2 Brother Thaddeus: Rime of the Frostmaiden.
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Hello all,
DM Stormchaser here. I've been running tabletop games of many kinds for almost 15 years now. DnD/Pathfinder has been my bread and butter, as well as a lot of Star Wars Saga (basically DnD) along with some World of Darkness, WFRP/Inquisitor/Rogue Trader, GURPS, Call of Cthulu, etc, etc.
I'm looking to start up a PbP 5e game here on the D&D Beyond boards. The game would take place in a world of my own creation and begins at a small mining settlement high in the mountains. I'm looking for a party of 4 level 1 PCs to become the heroes of this community before they grow into their big boy/girl pants. ;)
I have a rough direction, but will more or less improvise around the actions of the PCs, so this will be very sandboxy and the players should be prepared to take the initiative themselves. There is a dynamic world around you that will respond to your actions appropriately.
I place value on RP, good style and everybody having fun over any kind of rules lawyering. I will liberally house rule to make things fit the story we are telling together. My timezone is CEST/UTC+1/GMT+2.
This recruitment will not be on a first-come-first-served basis. I would like to see well thought out character concepts and will pick the four that synergise best with each other and with the setting. Feel free to ask plenty of questions and I look forward to seeing your character concepts!
-Storm
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva
I'd be interested in submitting a human wizard, but curious what sort of access he would have to magical training in the small mining town, if any? The general concept is the classic orphaned at a temple to the deity of Knowledge and he is a bookish sort who is very naive of the outside world, but I'm not sure if he would fit the starting area. Which, if that's the case I can easily come up with something else! I have a Grave cleric idea that would work great here I think if it would fit easier.
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
Hi Lyrel,
it would be possible to be the apprentice of the local arcane caster, although they themselves would not be of especially high level. Just enough to set them aside from the rabble.
Most humans here originate from the kingdom of Breanne, which lies to the east. There are probably as many dwarves as humans and those two races make up the two largest ethnic groups in the mines.
-Storm
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva
hi! very excited by this, been playing dnd for awhile but almost always as a dm, love getting the chance to play. here's what I'm thinking so far:
Name: Vark Galestone
Class: Storm Sorcerer
Alignment: True Neutral
Background: Folk hero
Personality: Shy, skittish, soft spoken, finds it hard to process that some people are actually intimidated by his orcish appearance
Background: Vark grew up as an outcast in an isolated tribe of orcs, which lived on the slopes of a massive mountain. The boy was raised by his mother, who tried her best to protect him from the harsh treatment he received from the other orcs. Their tribe worshipped a storm giant that lived at the peak of their mountain, giving him offerings regularly with the belief that his favor allowed them to live on the mountain. The entire summit was prone to frequent storms, as the very tip of the mountain scraped against the elemental plane of air, likely why the giant chose it as his home.. It was during one such storm that Vark was forced to go deliver an offering to the giant. On his trek, the storm intensified, winds knocking over his cart and sending him falling onto the icy path. Ashe stood, he was struck by planar lightning. The energy coursed through his body, leaving branching scars across his skin, but his hardy orc form managed to survive the blast. Vark was left imbued with the magic of the plane of air, and he soon discovered he could channel lightning through his hands and create bursts of thunder. This event gained him renown among his tribe, but at the suggestion of his mother, he fled, for the giant would eventually learn of the boy's new connection to the plane of air, if he hadn't already. There's no telling what the storm giant would do, maybe take Vark as a trophy, or maybe sacrifice him as part of some esoteric ritual. So Vark set off, hiking across the mountain range, stopping occasionally at hunting lodges and mining towns.
(edited to flesh it out a bit more)
Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - Vark Galestone | Half-Orc | Storm Sorcerer
Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - Caio Cypherien | Shadar-Kai | Inquisitor Ranger
Definitely down to fill another role if theres too many damage dealing spellcasters though. Also have an idea for a high elf celestial patron warlock, bound to a sphinx who gives him strange omens and riddles that lead him on a seemingly aimless path, but the enigmatic and curious elf is happy to oblige.
Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - Vark Galestone | Half-Orc | Storm Sorcerer
Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - Caio Cypherien | Shadar-Kai | Inquisitor Ranger
Hi Stormchaser! This sounds interesting so far. I've been thinking about a Firbolg Druid who travels the region visiting towns in the spring and summer to ensure all have a strong harvest by way of spells like druidcraft or, more specifically, plant growth. (Love that spell as one aspect seems great for a RP background, while the other is versatile for manipulating the party's surroundings in or out of combat.) . I could easily adapt this to a lvl 1 character that is just starting out with this endeavor and doesn't even have plant growth yet, but is that tough with the starting town being high in the mountains? They must need food still, so perhaps he helps them get the most out of a small patch of mountain dirt? Just figured I'd get your thoughts on how he might fit before fully fleshing out the character idea.
Also, I hope to avoid too much summoning as a druid as it can really bog things down, but could see doing it a little bit and trying to keep it to small numbers of creatures (ideally just 1 at a time, once or twice a day) and creating them as NPC's that the character knows and summons from the Feywild or something for aid (no mechanical advantage, just for RP purposes). I think of this as 'reskinning' more than asking to truly homebrew anything since there is no mechanical change other than perhaps speech. I say this in part because some of the lvl 2 aspects of the Shepherd druid appeal to me but that subclass also comes with summoning features. I could switch to another subclass, of course. Would want to get your thoughts on that before getting too far along with the character.
Lastly, would you like a full character sheet with the application, or more just the concept? If the former, should we do point buy?
PS If a dwarf is more sensible in the mining town, dwarven nature cleric is also on my list!
I wuold be interested in joing this campaign! I would love to be a Dwarven Cleric of the Forge. I had such fun playing the last forge cleric which died in the jungles of chult too soon. So I would love to try it out again. I could be in the mines.
Mavi Göz Mal - Half Orc Monk Level 1 Not Another Lost Mine of Phandelver
Drita - Aasimar Hexblade Warlock Lvl 3 Tomb of Annhilation
Iznik Sylnithas - Half Drow Blood Hunter Level 2 Precipice of Voids
Hi Stormchaser.
I have been toying with the idea of playing a half-elf ranger who is being paid to protect the area's around the mines. He has lived in the mountains of the area and doesn't really care for the civilizations around the mines but since he knows the area around the mine and needs the money to send his son to magic school in Breanne. He doesn't really trust full humans as he fears that they would dislike him because he is not fully human. He finds any areas with too many people to be a bother and avoids visiting them unnecessarily (including even to visit his son in Breanne).
I am unsure exactly at this point what his Sworn Enemy would be. I would have to discuss with you more about the world and creatures in the area to figure out exactly what that foe would be.
He eventually would become a beast master who's companion is a goat from his former wife's family goat farm.
Let me know if you want any more information or elaboration about this character or have any advice on improving this application.
Hey Stormchaser,
Archibald Swiftstep - forest gnome
Rogue - (eventual) Arcane Trickster
Archibald comes from a long line of swindlers and cheats. His grandfather would tell him glorious tales of his past adventures from his old worn journal. He helped his family pulling cons and tricking people out of their goods; although he never really felt like he belonged. Then the day came when his grandfather past away. Grief stricken and ashamed to never be able to live up to the great adventures of the one gnome he looked up to. He took his grandfathers journal and set off to make his grandfather proud. Become an adventurer and fill up his own journal for his children to read.
(I would plan on a lot of the pages being gibberish to Archie, until he levels up and is able to decipher the spells from his grandpas text. Maybe even have the be random or let you decide what’s in there)
Okay here is my cleric of the Forge!
Hurrig Magmabraids - Cleric of the Forge.
Hurrig is a miner in the town, an ex-mercenary who has come to town to lay low and leave his past behind him. He became one of the leaders in his mercenary gang and has many connections and is a wanted man by many different groups of people. However he hopes to have found isolation in the little mining town.
Mavi Göz Mal - Half Orc Monk Level 1 Not Another Lost Mine of Phandelver
Drita - Aasimar Hexblade Warlock Lvl 3 Tomb of Annhilation
Iznik Sylnithas - Half Drow Blood Hunter Level 2 Precipice of Voids
And here comes Thurston Barnatson, human paladin of the Thunder God ( he will become barbarian too if multiclassing allowed)
Thurston had been kind of a troublemaker his whole life... until after a particular violent storm took down his house with his parents inside. He was able to save them, but he devoted his life to the Thunder God from that point on. He still loves a good brawl, and drinks and feast as much as he can, but also defends those who cannot do for themselves. He is passionate in everything he does, as the Lighting and Thunder that are his God signature. ( try to think of a viking who prays to Thor before charging into battle ;) )
PbP Character: A few ;)
Lot’s of spellcasters here, but...I would like to try to bring in a warlock. Eventually I’d like them to turn into some sort of craftsmen, but yeah. I can come up with more details and history later on when I’m at home.
Liam the Weak: Level 4 Human Fighter - Trying to fight against his other personality, and constantly losing.
Aodh: Level 20 Half-Elf Cleric of Life - Not really. It's a strange being that had possessed and broke down a level 20 Cleric of Life Domain, gaining his knowledge and power.
"*****": Level 1 Tiefling Sorcerer - Her family is dead, and her will is broken. She follows orders so that those that command her will allow her to die.
Let's pitch another just for why-nots!
Name: Bründir
Race: Dwarf (Mountain)
Class: Bard (eventually Valor, possibly Swords)
Background: Bründir is generally known as a friend around town, and occasionally as the town drunk. Not to say he's married to his mug, but you can always find him at the inn when he isn't helping at the mine or around town. Regardless of opinion toward him, Bründir puts the people first and the town just behind them. A small influence (no pun intended) in the town's hierarchy has not stopped him from becoming extremely vocal when harmful matters arise. When a foreman hires a thug or two as supervisors, Bründir is the first to rally a few friends to put the newcomers in line. If the mayor wants to levy new taxes, Bründir stands at the head of a crowd demanding the people to be heard and, when needed, stands in boisterous protest for days until his people are heard.
Characters:
Grishkar Darkmoor, Necromancer of Nerull the Despiser
Kelvin Rabbitfoot, Diviner, con artist, always hunting for a good sale
Bründir Halfshield, Valor Bard, three-time Sheercleft Drinking Competition Champion, Hometown hero
I've been known around the forums to play a pretty decent Inquisitive rogue. If you're interested in having me:
"I've had a violent childhood, a shady past, and i'm all sorts of messed up inside, but i'm deadly in a fight. I've been trained to investigate, and kill. I'm hot-headed, have huge sass, little patience, but loyal to those who have my ass, and you'll want me on your team. If not, I don't care. I'm kind of a mercenary for hire now, since I got fired from my job years ago. I've got nowhere else to go right now, and I've seen all sorts of messed up. I can dish it out, and take a whole bunch. If you need something killed, or stuff checked out, i'm your gal. Just don't get in my way."
I post regularly, i'm a player and a sometimes a DM on here with years of experience.
Name: Cora "Crispy" Perkins
Age: Mid 20s
Race: Human
Class: Investigator Rogue
Short Bio: Crispy used to be a Special Forces soldier before she was terminated and exiled from the city she grew up in. This happened recently if we're starting at level 1. Always on the run, always watching her back, not exactly knowing where to go next. She has a very dark and abusive past, and is slow to trust with a sassy attitude. She's trying to make things right in her world, where it seems everyone and everything is against her. She's not proud of her past, and she's done some terrible things, but there's always an opportunity to try and do the right thing and live a "normal" life while trying to put the pieces of her life back together.
I've got a story I'm working on that includes dragons doing a coming of age ritual where they disguise themselves as other races to go on an adventure and I think this would be a good opportunity to play such a character to get a feel for how it would work. They would basically work as whatever race they were disguised as (in this case, human) with maybe a feat or something where once a day they can do a dragon thing? The concept is still in the works so I could workshop with you on this, but I also have a more traditional character idea if you don't want to do that.
The more traditional character is a half orc/half elf ranger, raised by his elf mother after they were exiled. The elves didn't like that one of their own got with an orc and had a 'half breed'. His mother was very loving though, so he has a bright personality, if a little blunt and confused about social interactions due to being raised away from other people. On her death bed, my characters mother gave him an amulet that belonged to his father and encouraged him to find him, as the father didn't know the woman he loved had even had a child. I imagine the mining town is the first settlement he comes across on his quest to find his father. I would like my character to have a deer mount, but it's not necessary.
Hi everyone,
it's great to see such a broad response. I'd like to start by outlining some additional information about the setting that should help everybody fine-tune their characters and get a better feeling for what I'm looking for.
As I mentioned in my first post, the first section of this campaign will be focused around a mining village that goes by the name of Sheercleft. Sheercleft is located in a range of mountains known as the Ice Cap Peaks and the village itself bridges the Sheercleft Ravine. The ravine is very narrow and very deep and much of the mining operation is concentrated on carving into its sides, which are rich with ore. Sheercleft itself has a population of a few hundred and given the treacherous environment (both above and below ground) anybody who isn't a local has likely signed on to work as a guard of some kind. The village is not self-sufficient in terms of food and other supplies and relies heavily on trade caravans. These originate either from nearby dwarven holds, or they come up the mountain from Breanne.
The Ice Caps run roughly north-south, with a spur that sticks out east into Breanne. On its west the range borders the vast Eldren forest, which is primarily inhabited by elves. Following the mountains north takes one deeper into Dwarven territory and the further south one goes the colder things get and the more orcs, trolls, giants and the like become a problem. I could go on, but this is just one region of Arden, the entirety of which I do have mapped. I'll gladly answer any specific questions that people have.
@Lyrel Just spotted your edit. You're right that a temple of knowledge doesn't really fit the starting area, but if you're prepared to modify the concept to fit the setting I won't rule a wizard out. Feel free to post your grave cleric idea, but be aware that I'm already considering two divine casters.
@Sphynxyy Your half-orc storm sorcerer sounds very interesting! I'm afraid that the elemental plane of air wouldn't just brush the material plane like that here, so we'd have to adjust the background to their powers there a bit. Maybe a side effect of growing up in close proximity to the giant's constant storm magic?
@Hexblade37 A firbolg in this region would almost certainly have come up out of Eldren forest. While the plant element wouldn't be as pronounced, a druid would almost certainly be welcome amongst the miners, if only as a healer. They would have to make liberal use of their disguise-self ability though, as I don't know if the community would just outright accept a firbolg walking in. The shepherd druid should be fine. One advantage of pbp is that (as long as you, the player, include ALL actions in your post) no time is actually lost on the summons in combat, because we're not sat around a table waiting for actions to be resolved.
All that said, a dwarven cleric would fit in really naturally, so think about what you would really want. I'll only be considering characters with backstories, so you would need to put something together. EDIT - You asked about stat generation. I'll probably use the elite array, because I like that it encourages stats that aren't too min-maxed. I'll be open to moving a point about here or there in specific cases though.
@Agonzo516 A dwarven forge cleric would also fit in perfectly. As your concept stands it sounds a little too experienced for level 1, since he is supposed to have led a mercenary gang! Maybe he joined a gang and realised it wasn't for him and now they want him dead for leaving? You and Hexblade37 will likely be competing for that slot, since I'm unlikely to take two characters that are too similar in party role.
@decjimmy A half-elf ranger would be a good fit given the proximity of both Breanne and Eldren forest. I would like to use the most recent Unearthed Arcana Revised Ranger, but that also has a beast conclave, which is equivalent to the beast master archetype.
@CraigTJones Archibald sounds fun! As a forest gnome he would likely also have come up into the mountains from Eldren forest. How do you feel about that and what are his motivations for coming to a mining village?
@FrandalSilvereyes While I tend to discourage multiclassing, I won't outright forbid it if you really want to do it. A viking type warrior sounds very fitting. Beyond the southern most reaches of the Ice Cap peaks is a frozen coastline littered with many islands. This region is inhabited by a fierce human culture of warriors, who are, for practical purposes, Norse. Thurston could in principle hail from there.
@Barlow Okay this guy really made me chuckle, he sounds fantastic.
@CrispyDM Can you be more specific about what you mean by 'special forces', because that's quite a modern concept for this setting.
@SpaceSnake95 I would rather keep this to more traditional races. The dragon thing sounds interesting, but not very appropriate for the game I have in mind. Similarly, in this setting orcs and elves can't breed. Only humans can crossbreed with those species. The child of a half-orc and half-elf would come out mechanically human.
Having read through all of these (very good) proposals, I would like to see some writing samples from:
Sphynxyy, Hexblade37, Agonzo516, decjimmy, CraigTJones, FrandalSilvereyes and Barlow.
That is not to say that everybody else is out, but I'm happy enough with the ideas here that I would like to see how these players write. Please write a short scene featuring the character in a tavern or the woods or doing whatever it is they do. Enough to give me a feel for the style of who I'll be playing with. :)
-Storm
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva
@Stormchaser, I would happily work around general idea of my wizard to make him fit better into the setting! Although after reading over some more of the material presented about the setting, I'm actually leaning a little bit more towards a Storm Herald barbarian as I've been itching to try out them out in 5E. Given the mountain settings I thought perhaps a goliath might be appropriate, but I wanted to get your thoughts on that option before I delve into the background more.
Valaith "Rimehand" Kalukavi - Chronicles of Arden
Yes, I can see a tundra Storm Herald working nicely! A goliath would probably have come up from the south. He'd likely be tolerated for his strength, but there would be a degree of intolerance because of the giant blood, especially from dwarves. Do throw together a background for him. :)
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva
Archie sits at the bar with a drink tapping his fort ...well he would be tapping if his feet could reach the floor. He spins around in the stool to take in the scene: people dancing, the band playing loudly in the background, drinks being sloshed and slammed together in celebration. He takes himself over to a booth in the corner to begin writing in his journal.
A waitress walks by; he quickly reaches after her “I think we should keep it going, another round on me” as he gives her a wink and tosses some gold. He goes back to writing in his journal:
I guess I haven’t given up all of my family’s tricks, still got sticky fingers... but it’s to make others happy, which I hope is a step in the right direction.
Archie closes his books, hops down from the seat, and joins in on the dancing.
I've got an idea for a Variant Human Folk Hero Rogue. Sparrow has lived in the town her whole life, her father is a miner, her mother died in childbirth. Generally a bit of a mischief maker she's got a little bit of a bad reputation in town for practical jokes and other adolescent shenanigans. She has a bit of an uptick in reputation after she after got back the local bakers life savings after a disreputable merchant swindled the baker. Of course, the real reason she tracked him down was to get back her own money, but she's not avberse to doing the right thing on occasion.
Liarin: Against the Cult of the Reptile God
Adewild: Shadows and Light 2
Brother Thaddeus: Rime of the Frostmaiden.