This will be a Christmas/Winter themed one-shot possible campaign based in Forgotten Realms.
Game app:
Party of 4 to 6 players
Starring level 5
All classes accepted within the character builder.
All species within the character builder.
Backstory a must but be flexible! You'll be in an existing adventuring party employed by franchised famous adventuring group: Polux and Grimsby. So, adapt your backstory to make room for this fact into your backstory.
Experience is key; won't be newbie friendly.
Adults only. I'm an adult and I expect to be speaking to other adults.
We will discuss hard limits and gray areas.
I homebrew most monsters stats and DCs. I do play RAW but I am willingly to focus on narrative and rule of cool.
Our adventure
The adventure begins in the snowy village of Tuvig in the foothills of the West Galena Pass in the West Galena Mountains just south of the Great Glaicer. Think an Alpine settlement in a rural area known for it's with mithril mine on the mountain's face and its mithril weapons with a forges on every street. For what Tuvig lacks in the finer things found in bigger settlements however it has an overwhelming abundance of hard working craftspeople who attract fighters of all kinds to their fires. Recently the winter nights have been longer and more harsh. The pass has been closed for weeks marooning the group in Tuvig who arrived with a local who's a member of the party to attend a local fire festival for the first time. As the winter presses in on the party and the town a person goes missing. A famous weaponsmith the party had come to buy wares. The village elders employed them to discover the truth. Was the master taken out by her competition? Killed by the local fauna? Driven mad by the white out weather and into the wilderness, no one knows! Only you and your party can find out!
Up-front:
Please submit a PC if you want to play and are planning on participating with other PCs and NPCs. Life's too short for me and the other players to drag your PC to participate.
18+ only
LGBTIQA+ friendly
English only
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Sometimes a Nat 1 tells a better story than a Nat 20 ever could.
Tashia doesn't really remember her real parents, she barely remembers living on the streets (and even then, only in flashes of nightmares). For all practical purposes, her only memories are as the daughter Cole and Coenen Smith.
Coenen's tale was a local tragedy. A gifted midwife, it was rumored that the gods of death took her own children in payment for all of the babies she had stolen from their grasp. Cole was a skilled, if not particularly talented blacksmith. Without an apprentice or any sons to help out, Tashia went to work at her father's shop at an early age. She grew up working bellows, splitting wood to feed the forge, and eventually hammer hardening her own creations. The combination of hard work and her orcish lineage made Tashia hearty and hale, which is probably why she survived the plague when so many others did not...
After losing her family Tashia stayed on for a while, running the forge in her father's absence, until a journeyman smith and the local lord made an arrangement. Because the lease specified that use of the forge would be passed on to the eldest son, Tashia had no claim to it. And, since she'd never been a formal apprentice, the guild wouldn't recognize her as a smith.
Facing pressure towards a marriage of convenience, Tashia opted for a vagabond life on the open road. A competitive soul who loves holding her own against "the boys" it was only a matter of time before Tashia found her way into the pit fighting circuit. It was there that her skills caught the eye of a recruiter for Polux and Grimsby...
History: Thrash was a just a young hatchling when he was taken from his tribe by a giant child. A group of giants had visited the Lizardfolk tribe known as the Bloodscales to negotiate a truce between. The clan of giants known as the Skullcrushers had been competing with the lizardfolk for hunting grounds and they had decided it was time to negotiate. After the truce was struck, a young giant child named Grum saw the tiny hatching scurrying through the reeds and quickly scooped him up and put him in a bag. It wasn't until days later that the other giants had discovered what the child had done. Grum had taken the young lizardfolk as a pet. Realizing that the kidnapping could jeopardize the newly founded truce, they decided to raise the lizardfolk as their own. They told him a story of how they had found him alone miles and miles away... the last remaining survivor of an orc attack. Although smaller than his giant clansmen, what the lizardfolk lacked in size, he made up for with veracity. He was given the name "Thrash" when he was very small due to the way he would wildly thrash around any time one of the larger giants tried to pick him up.
As the years went on and any risk of the Bloodscales discovering Thrash had faded, the giants allowed him to leave the clan to make a name for himself and perhaps find more people like him. After leaving the Skullcrushers, he eventually found Polux and Grimsby. Polux and Grimsby provided him a way to make some coin while putting his skills to use. Some day, Thrash wanted to create his own tribe... and protect them from any threats that may come his way.
Currently in another P&G campaign, so curious about backstory. Thinking of a Rogue with questionable but not evil morals. But would an honorable assassin be acceptable? What about 4 levels rogue, then class switch along with alignment?
Name: Rel Serafin (<-- link to dndbeyond character sheet) Race: Custom Lineage (from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything). Half-drow, half-aasimar. (Feat: Fey Touched). Class: Warlock-2 (Hexblade), Sorcerer-3 (Divine Soul) Backstory, Alignment and Image: See (first) spoiler below.
Backstory (adjustable as needed):
Rel's mother was Ilvara, an exceedingly cruel and capricious drow noble from the Mizzrym family in Menzoberranzan in the Underdark - a family of slavers. Her father Tam, a captured slave, was an aasimar whom she was barely allowed to know and died when Rel was still a small child. In fact, Rel was only born due to a bet, Ilvara carrying the pregancy to term to collect her winnings, before discarding her bastard daughter like trash. Rel's full name itself was intended as a joke. She was named after some scullery maid with dreams above her station in a silly fantasy tale from another plane that Ilvara once read. A long, flowery name that Rel loathes with a passion and has always refused and shortened. To this day, the worst insult is to call her by her full name, "Cinderella". In truth, Rel was raised more or less as a slave herself, other than some grudging education and some occasional favors bestowed on her at the whim of her mother and the Mizzrym family. Nevertheless, she was inquisitive and charismatic, and soaked up what little she was offered, while harboring an immense chip on her shoulder.
During an incursion by demons from the Abyss into the Underdark, Rel managed to escape, along with Roywyn Inkbow a gnome slave she had secretly befriended. After months of harrowing adventures, Rel and Roywyn were able to escape to the surface. During this journey, Rel took what she believed to be her father Tam's name, Serafin, as she felt the spark of divine magic blossoming within her, from some angelic being far more heavenly than Rel could ever hope to be. Some distant ancestor of Tam's. In conflict with this was the power emanating from a strange pair of black earrings and a jet black warhammer she found in a deep tunnel excavated by a purple worm not far from Menzoberranzan, the weapon light as a feather in her hand when it should be too heavy. In some way that Rel does not fully understand, the earrings and warhammer have bonded Rel in a mostly unwitting pact with the Raven Queen of Shadowfell, whom Rel manifests when she places Hexblade's Curse on a foe, stealing life from her foes on behalf of her patron.
Rel lived happily for a time with her friend Roywyn's clan on the surface, the gnomes accepting her grudgingly at first, but more warmly soon as she earned their trust. But when the Inkbows were routed in a massive orc raid, Rel fled in desperation, suspecting her newfound family dead, finding herself adrift in the surface world, still grieving for her childhood friend. *She would have wanted me to live free*, Rel thinks wistfully.
Always quick with words and charm, Rel's combat skills and personality lead her to find work for Polux and Grimsby. Adventure calls, and she finds that she does not care that she does not know where this new life will take her. The almost frightening freedom and the escape offered by the wide open spaces of mountain and sky and snow might just help Rel forget her past, or force her to confront the future her pact holds for her...
Alignment:
Rel herself is Chaotic Good, wishing to live free and do good. Yet there are three competing forces pulling her towards different poles, rendering her personality... fluid. The Lawful Good of her aasimar father's divine soul heritage, the Neutral Evil of her domineering and hated mother who she sometimes unwittingly emulates, and the Chaotic Neutral of her Hexblade patron, the Raven Queen of Shadowfell.
Currently in another P&G campaign, so curious about backstory. Thinking of a Rogue with questionable but not evil morals. But would an honorable assassin be acceptable? What about 4 levels rogue, then class switch along with alignment?
Thinking Eladrin, Drow or Goblin as species.
Absolutely! Looking for hard working, seriously motivated, and less conventional party options.
Backstory: Barthel was born from war, orphaned when his family became caught between two warrior factions during the War of the Shining Crusade. His village was caught in the middle between the Shining Crusade and the Coalition, that saw its utter destruction, and the death of his parents which was burned into his psyche. He, along with a few survivors were sent back to Baldur's Gate. Being an orphan, Barthel was taken in by the watch, and trained as a guard. As he began his training as such a young age, along with the zeal of avenging his parents, Barthel became a war master, and continues to hone his skill. In between jobs, Barthel joined the franchise of Polux and Grimsby.
Drakar Flameheart, a charismatic Dragonborn, grew up in a clan known for their mastery of ancient draconic arts. Inspired by the tales of legendary bards, he discovered a unique connection between his sorcerous bloodline and the haunting melodies of his bagpipe. His fiery breath and magical tunes became intertwined, creating a spellbinding symphony that drew throngs of adoring fans and captivated both allies and foes alike. Drakar now travels the realms, seeking new songs and magical secrets to weave into his music.
Backstory: Fall’aten prides himself on few things: He is a man of dedication! Carved every tree and blade of grass within a hundred mile radius with the names of his children! Or, children he knew. He didn’t know any children, disgusting things. He is a man of wit! All common folk blessed to meet his interest were gifted with gab to take with them for many a generation! The gab was a smack on the head. He just needed an excuse sometimes. And, finally his age! He has no idea how old he is, but he would consider himself no less ancient than his ancestors lived to be. And those that would snide him for it would spend an hour in a sneezing fit.
Fell’aten has no allegiance. And in service to his forefathers he would find none. He exists to walk the glade of the world, nothing more, nothing less. He seeks to be the wind, the water and earth. If the plains were savaged, the earth would be healed, and the displaced would be fed. If there’s blood in the water, it will be cleared. The methods are not of concern. If the wind threatens to rip, he will shield all in its path. Conversely; a city bustling without worry for months can survive a harmless little fire. A doe outmatched by a pack of wild dogs suddenly growing 9ft in seconds isn’t out of the ordinary. The nearby village will have stories for years.
Polux and Grimsby are no less apart of nature than he is, whether that see it or not. Adventuring parties are as graceful and wrathful as the earth beneath his toes. He took their offer without hesitation. He just hopes he’ll run into some bears while he’s here. No reason…
My father is a well-respected woodcutter, and my mother is an elven artisan. They met when she rescued him after a tree felling accident. As I grew up, I would accompany my father on his firewood gathering expeditions. During these trips, he taught me the way of the forest and the creatures there. My mother showed me the value of life. How every good living thing is to be treasured and protected. The past few years, I've been exploring the lands surrounding my home. Acting as a forward scout for my father and his fellow woodcutters, I spend my days roaming the forest. I stand vigilant against the forces of orc and goblin kind alike, as well as any other entity that would threaten the serenity of our way of life. I joined a group of adventures out of Phandlin. We were tasked with finding some dwarves and their cave of wonders. Along the way, we encountered a juvenile dragon and a demonic entity self-appointed as warden of an extra dimensional prison. Upon the evil entity's defeat, one of our own took its place, ensuring that only those deserving were contained. The rest of my group decided to remain in Phandlin as their patron protectors. I, on the other hand, prefer to remain on the move. My place is within the wilds of the world. I believe I shall head north. It has been several weeks and the snow continues to pile up. I grow weary and restless as I and this new group I have joined await the call to action.
Rigel has acquired some magical items. Of course I'm willing to discuss them. Sheet lists a couple of weapons that I only have there so they will show up for combat rolls. They're his go to choices for the rod of loardly might.
This will be a Christmas/Winter themed one-shot possible campaign based in Forgotten Realms.
Game app:
Party of 4 to 6 players
Starring level 5
All classes accepted within the character builder.
All species within the character builder.
Backstory a must but be flexible! You'll be in an existing adventuring party employed by franchised famous adventuring group: Polux and Grimsby. So, adapt your backstory to make room for this fact into your backstory.
Experience is key; won't be newbie friendly.
Adults only. I'm an adult and I expect to be speaking to other adults.
We will discuss hard limits and gray areas.
I homebrew most monsters stats and DCs. I do play RAW but I am willingly to focus on narrative and rule of cool.
Our adventure
The adventure begins in the snowy village of Tuvig in the foothills of the West Galena Pass in the West Galena Mountains just south of the Great Glaicer. Think an Alpine settlement in a rural area known for it's with mithril mine on the mountain's face and its mithril weapons with a forges on every street. For what Tuvig lacks in the finer things found in bigger settlements however it has an overwhelming abundance of hard working craftspeople who attract fighters of all kinds to their fires. Recently the winter nights have been longer and more harsh. The pass has been closed for weeks marooning the group in Tuvig who arrived with a local who's a member of the party to attend a local fire festival for the first time. As the winter presses in on the party and the town a person goes missing. A famous weaponsmith the party had come to buy wares. The village elders employed them to discover the truth. Was the master taken out by her competition? Killed by the local fauna? Driven mad by the white out weather and into the wilderness, no one knows! Only you and your party can find out!
Up-front:
Please submit a PC if you want to play and are planning on participating with other PCs and NPCs. Life's too short for me and the other players to drag your PC to participate.
18+ only
LGBTIQA+ friendly
English only
Sometimes a Nat 1 tells a better story than a Nat 20 ever could.
Name: Tashia Coenen
Race: Half-Orc
Class: Barbarian 1/ Fighter (Champion) 4
Background: Folk Hero
Backstory:
Tashia doesn't really remember her real parents, she barely remembers living on the streets (and even then, only in flashes of nightmares). For all practical purposes, her only memories are as the daughter Cole and Coenen Smith.
Coenen's tale was a local tragedy. A gifted midwife, it was rumored that the gods of death took her own children in payment for all of the babies she had stolen from their grasp. Cole was a skilled, if not particularly talented blacksmith. Without an apprentice or any sons to help out, Tashia went to work at her father's shop at an early age. She grew up working bellows, splitting wood to feed the forge, and eventually hammer hardening her own creations. The combination of hard work and her orcish lineage made Tashia hearty and hale, which is probably why she survived the plague when so many others did not...
After losing her family Tashia stayed on for a while, running the forge in her father's absence, until a journeyman smith and the local lord made an arrangement. Because the lease specified that use of the forge would be passed on to the eldest son, Tashia had no claim to it. And, since she'd never been a formal apprentice, the guild wouldn't recognize her as a smith.
Facing pressure towards a marriage of convenience, Tashia opted for a vagabond life on the open road. A competitive soul who loves holding her own against "the boys" it was only a matter of time before Tashia found her way into the pit fighting circuit. It was there that her skills caught the eye of a recruiter for Polux and Grimsby...
Oh, and I know you don't normally permit multiclass right at the start. Is that the case with this as well?
Since we're possibly one-shoting and it's level 5; I'll allow it
Sometimes a Nat 1 tells a better story than a Nat 20 ever could.
I am definitely interested! Are we rolling Stats or point buy?
Name: Thrash
Race: Lizardfolk
Class: Barbarian
Alignment: chaotic neutral
Background: Giant Foundling
History: Thrash was a just a young hatchling when he was taken from his tribe by a giant child. A group of giants had visited the Lizardfolk tribe known as the Bloodscales to negotiate a truce between. The clan of giants known as the Skullcrushers had been competing with the lizardfolk for hunting grounds and they had decided it was time to negotiate. After the truce was struck, a young giant child named Grum saw the tiny hatching scurrying through the reeds and quickly scooped him up and put him in a bag. It wasn't until days later that the other giants had discovered what the child had done. Grum had taken the young lizardfolk as a pet. Realizing that the kidnapping could jeopardize the newly founded truce, they decided to raise the lizardfolk as their own. They told him a story of how they had found him alone miles and miles away... the last remaining survivor of an orc attack. Although smaller than his giant clansmen, what the lizardfolk lacked in size, he made up for with veracity. He was given the name "Thrash" when he was very small due to the way he would wildly thrash around any time one of the larger giants tried to pick him up.
As the years went on and any risk of the Bloodscales discovering Thrash had faded, the giants allowed him to leave the clan to make a name for himself and perhaps find more people like him. After leaving the Skullcrushers, he eventually found Polux and Grimsby. Polux and Grimsby provided him a way to make some coin while putting his skills to use. Some day, Thrash wanted to create his own tribe... and protect them from any threats that may come his way.

Standard array or point buy!
Sometimes a Nat 1 tells a better story than a Nat 20 ever could.
Currently in another P&G campaign, so curious about backstory. Thinking of a Rogue with questionable but not evil morals. But would an honorable assassin be acceptable? What about 4 levels rogue, then class switch along with alignment?
Thinking Eladrin, Drow or Goblin as species.
Name: Rel Serafin (<-- link to dndbeyond character sheet)
Race: Custom Lineage (from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything). Half-drow, half-aasimar. (Feat: Fey Touched).
Class: Warlock-2 (Hexblade), Sorcerer-3 (Divine Soul)
Backstory, Alignment and Image: See (first) spoiler below.
Backstory (adjustable as needed):
Rel's mother was Ilvara, an exceedingly cruel and capricious drow noble from the Mizzrym family in Menzoberranzan in the Underdark - a family of slavers. Her father Tam, a captured slave, was an aasimar whom she was barely allowed to know and died when Rel was still a small child. In fact, Rel was only born due to a bet, Ilvara carrying the pregancy to term to collect her winnings, before discarding her bastard daughter like trash. Rel's full name itself was intended as a joke. She was named after some scullery maid with dreams above her station in a silly fantasy tale from another plane that Ilvara once read. A long, flowery name that Rel loathes with a passion and has always refused and shortened. To this day, the worst insult is to call her by her full name, "Cinderella". In truth, Rel was raised more or less as a slave herself, other than some grudging education and some occasional favors bestowed on her at the whim of her mother and the Mizzrym family. Nevertheless, she was inquisitive and charismatic, and soaked up what little she was offered, while harboring an immense chip on her shoulder.
During an incursion by demons from the Abyss into the Underdark, Rel managed to escape, along with Roywyn Inkbow a gnome slave she had secretly befriended. After months of harrowing adventures, Rel and Roywyn were able to escape to the surface. During this journey, Rel took what she believed to be her father Tam's name, Serafin, as she felt the spark of divine magic blossoming within her, from some angelic being far more heavenly than Rel could ever hope to be. Some distant ancestor of Tam's. In conflict with this was the power emanating from a strange pair of black earrings and a jet black warhammer she found in a deep tunnel excavated by a purple worm not far from Menzoberranzan, the weapon light as a feather in her hand when it should be too heavy. In some way that Rel does not fully understand, the earrings and warhammer have bonded Rel in a mostly unwitting pact with the Raven Queen of Shadowfell, whom Rel manifests when she places Hexblade's Curse on a foe, stealing life from her foes on behalf of her patron.
Rel lived happily for a time with her friend Roywyn's clan on the surface, the gnomes accepting her grudgingly at first, but more warmly soon as she earned their trust. But when the Inkbows were routed in a massive orc raid, Rel fled in desperation, suspecting her newfound family dead, finding herself adrift in the surface world, still grieving for her childhood friend. *She would have wanted me to live free*, Rel thinks wistfully.
Always quick with words and charm, Rel's combat skills and personality lead her to find work for Polux and Grimsby. Adventure calls, and she finds that she does not care that she does not know where this new life will take her. The almost frightening freedom and the escape offered by the wide open spaces of mountain and sky and snow might just help Rel forget her past, or force her to confront the future her pact holds for her...
Alignment:
Rel herself is Chaotic Good, wishing to live free and do good. Yet there are three competing forces pulling her towards different poles, rendering her personality... fluid. The Lawful Good of her aasimar father's divine soul heritage, the Neutral Evil of her domineering and hated mother who she sometimes unwittingly emulates, and the Chaotic Neutral of her Hexblade patron, the Raven Queen of Shadowfell.
Image:
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Absolutely! Looking for hard working, seriously motivated, and less conventional party options.
Sometimes a Nat 1 tells a better story than a Nat 20 ever could.
Out of curiosity, was there an anticipated recruitment deadline? I'm sorry if it was posted above and I missed it.
Name: Barthel
Race: Human
Class: Fighter (Battle Master)
Background: Mercenary
Backstory: Barthel was born from war, orphaned when his family became caught between two warrior factions during the War of the Shining Crusade. His village was caught in the middle between the Shining Crusade and the Coalition, that saw its utter destruction, and the death of his parents which was burned into his psyche. He, along with a few survivors were sent back to Baldur's Gate. Being an orphan, Barthel was taken in by the watch, and trained as a guard. As he began his training as such a young age, along with the zeal of avenging his parents, Barthel became a war master, and continues to hone his skill. In between jobs, Barthel joined the franchise of Polux and Grimsby.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/113118810
Drow assassin/ranger
Nope. Waiting for the right folks.
Sometimes a Nat 1 tells a better story than a Nat 20 ever could.
I can't access this.
Sometimes a Nat 1 tells a better story than a Nat 20 ever could.
Name: Drakar Flameheart (Drak)
Race: Dragonborn (Red)
Class: Sorcerer 1 (Draconic) / Bard 4 (Glamour)
Background: Entertainer
Backstory:
Drakar Flameheart, a charismatic Dragonborn, grew up in a clan known for their mastery of ancient draconic arts. Inspired by the tales of legendary bards, he discovered a unique connection between his sorcerous bloodline and the haunting melodies of his bagpipe. His fiery breath and magical tunes became intertwined, creating a spellbinding symphony that drew throngs of adoring fans and captivated both allies and foes alike. Drakar now travels the realms, seeking new songs and magical secrets to weave into his music.
Here's the PDF link
I can't try something else till I get home
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sheet-pdfs/arthuropodd_113118810.pdf
https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/113118810
Name: Fall’aten
Race: High Elf
Class: Druid
Background: Haunted One
Backstory: Fall’aten prides himself on few things: He is a man of dedication! Carved every tree and blade of grass within a hundred mile radius with the names of his children! Or, children he knew. He didn’t know any children, disgusting things. He is a man of wit! All common folk blessed to meet his interest were gifted with gab to take with them for many a generation! The gab was a smack on the head. He just needed an excuse sometimes. And, finally his age! He has no idea how old he is, but he would consider himself no less ancient than his ancestors lived to be. And those that would snide him for it would spend an hour in a sneezing fit.
Fell’aten has no allegiance. And in service to his forefathers he would find none. He exists to walk the glade of the world, nothing more, nothing less. He seeks to be the wind, the water and earth. If the plains were savaged, the earth would be healed, and the displaced would be fed. If there’s blood in the water, it will be cleared. The methods are not of concern. If the wind threatens to rip, he will shield all in its path. Conversely; a city bustling without worry for months can survive a harmless little fire. A doe outmatched by a pack of wild dogs suddenly growing 9ft in seconds isn’t out of the ordinary. The nearby village will have stories for years.
Polux and Grimsby are no less apart of nature than he is, whether that see it or not. Adventuring parties are as graceful and wrathful as the earth beneath his toes. He took their offer without hesitation. He just hopes he’ll run into some bears while he’s here. No reason…
I'll add a character for your consideration.
Name: Rigel Forsythe
Race: Half elf
Class: Ranger/Hunter
https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/17445972/agEFwL
Backstory:
Rigel has acquired some magical items. Of course I'm willing to discuss them. Sheet lists a couple of weapons that I only have there so they will show up for combat rolls. They're his go to choices for the rod of loardly might.
**This Space for Rent**
Deadline for submissions Monday November 27th.
I have 3 of 6 spots left. Serious. RP driven players ONLY.
Sometimes a Nat 1 tells a better story than a Nat 20 ever could.