So for other people planning on joining I should have added this to the top post.

I like to dm heavy role-playing scenarios, with very interactive fighting, I enjoy puzzles but am not great at designing them.

Again thank you in advance for joining I hope you enjoy.

Love the concept- Noir Punk is my favorite genre!

A few queries to inform our character concept(s):

1. Will the PBP be here on D&D Beyond or some other platform?
2. Will extended combat use a tactical map?
3. How is magic viewed/handled in this setting(legally & socially)? 
4. "heavy role-playing" could mean social(persuasion/deception/etc) or functional(mystery/storytelling/character development). What is your target for the social/functional ratio

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

Quote from ChaplainRock >>

Love the concept- Noir Punk is my favorite genre!

A few queries to inform our character concept(s):

1. Will the PBP be here on D&D Beyond or some other platform?
2. Will extended combat use a tactical map?
3. How is magic viewed/handled in this setting(legally & socially)? 
4. "heavy role-playing" could mean social(persuasion/deception/etc) or functional(mystery/storytelling/character development). What is your target for the social/functional ratio

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

 Here on dndbeyond as a private chat group

No ill just describe

It is basically just mechanical stuff. So cars and things are basically "magic" there is no actual spellcasting

I think a think a mix of the two. I like my players to solve mysteries but I also like to see how they interact with npcs

Sorry it took a while to reply. Life got in the way.

No worries!  and Thank you very much, great answers! I am interested to see how we handle Bards as full casters.

For the team's consideration- 

Name: Jack Smith AKA “Smith” 

Race/Class Variant Human Ranger

High Concept: Veteran Hunter of Men with Borderline Personality Disorder

Backstory: The military organization has laws. When those laws are broken, someone has to hunt down criminals and every one of them is a trained killer - but even the army has problems normal military police can not or will not solve.. That’s where Special Investigator Smith came in. Whether it was an officer on the take, a special forces deserter, or a thief selling stolen military-grade weapons to organized crime made no difference to him- his passion was the hunt. He spent so much time deep undercover he barely remembered his name and had lost all family and friends when it came time to retire. He used to be the best - now who was he without a badge, without a Hunt?

Quote from ChaplainRock >>

No worries!  and Thank you very much, great answers! I am interested to see how we handle Bards as full casters.

For the team's consideration- 

Name: Jack Smith AKA “Smith” 

Race/Class Variant Human Ranger

High Concept: Veteran Hunter of Men with Borderline Personality Disorder

Backstory: The military organization has laws. When those laws are broken, someone has to hunt down criminals and every one of them is a trained killer - but even the army has problems normal military police can not or will not solve.. That’s where Special Investigator Smith came in. Whether it was an officer on the take, a special forces deserter, or a thief selling stolen military-grade weapons to organized crime made no difference to him- his passion was the hunt. He spent so much time deep undercover he barely remembered his name and had lost all family and friends when it came time to retire. He used to be the best - now who was he without a badge, without a Hunt?

OR

Name:  Harry Blackstaff Kelvin  AKA “Slick”

Race/Class Variant Human Bard

High Concept: Failed stage magician turned con man

Backstory: Harry was the third generation of stage magicians, named after two of the greatest magicians in history. His widower father was a low-talent hack playing birthday parties and low class bars to scrape together enough money to raise Harry, but he loved the craft and poured all that ambition and expectation onto Harry. Harry had a problem- his magic was real, but he hated it. Secretly Harry always wanted to be an actor- or a criminal. Anything but a stage magician like his father. The audiences could tell. They paid for showmanship and secretly wanted to figure out the tricks. Harry’s complete lack of stage presence and performing real magic was dissatisfying on both counts.

However that failure as a magician (and a childhood spent in the shady backrooms of pubs) led to Harry’s true calling: Con Man. Combining aspects of both Actor and Criminal, Harry loved the game. Always staying a step or two ahead of the cops and irate ‘clients’ served him well until he conned the wrong mark. Now Harry owes a large debt to some unsavory characters and has no choice but to turn to a life of a merc to raise the coin necessary and stay away from both the law and the mob's debt collectors.

I would rather play "Smith"  but can play "Slick Harry" if that is what fits the party better.

 I like Smith. Seems dark but also noble, and I think it goes well with Aurora - not that her dad was a deserter, but maybe helping to find him is a way to give Smith purpose.

I like Jack as well! I think there's def a much better story with him, Aurora, Daniel Jones, and Scraptooth.

Not sure what I can bring to the table here so I'm going to pull my current submissions. If I come up with something that I think can add value to the story I'll post a new submission. Otherwise, all the best to you! I look forward to following this campaign!

Quote from groverbloom >>

Robot (pre-war medical tech)

Name: TBD

Race: Warforged

Class: Artificer

Backstory: I was a hospital bot, designed to assist doctors with the diagnosis and treatment of patients. When the war started, I was a valuable asset for treating the wounded. As things escalated, I was viewed with more and more hostility and mistrust until, eventually, I was decommissioned and placed in storage. It wasn't until much later that a scavenger (perhaps one of the other PCs) found me in the basement of the hospital and reactivated me.

 
What if you merged this concept with Scraptooth? He doesn’t have to be my pet/steel defender. They could still be a duo. Aurora could be the scavenger that found you. Maybe I rebuilt you in dog form to help you blend in more (or maybe not). 

I love it. Robots in disguise! Please consider doing this. Gotta wonder what happens when Jack figures out the subterfuge. 

Steel defenders even have self repair already, so doing repairs or creating new stuff is well within their capacity. Might prolong the charade even further.

Also, a team with 2 artificers in a steampunk world? Priceless. 

Quote from ChaplainRock >>

I love it. Robots in disguise! Please consider doing this. Gotta wonder what happens when Jack figures out the subterfuge. 

Steel defenders even have self repair already, so doing repairs or creating new stuff is well within their capacity. Might prolong the charade even further.

Also, a team with 2 artificers in a steampunk world? Priceless. 

 Well, I wasn't totally thinking he would be a fur covered dog, although that is interesting. The original idea was that Scraptooth was a Steel Defender who's Battlesmith was killed. He was destroyed in battle and left in a scrap heap. Somehow he figured out how to repair and rebuild himself, but what he cobbled together was a quadrupedal dog-like shape. 

Then we talked about merging it with my Aurora concept, which seemed to make sense. But if Scraptooth can become another character who wants to play a warforged, the connection seems to work. Maybe Aurora found Smith wounded and dragged him to this hospital to try to get him fixed up. She found the medical droid and repaired it to help her. 

Two artificers would be interesting. I wonder if you can build one in a way that turns them into a medic?

Disguised as a steel defender doggo, yes.  In eberron setting there is a homonculus option called iron defender that is a dog so even low level artificers would likely have robot pets without going Battle Smith. 

Also, I have played in a campaign where the primary healer/rezzer is an artificer. Just get a decent Wis and pick the right spells. Medicine proficiency and herbalism kit would also help. Healer feat would be nice but not necessary. 

Jack is exactly the type to get in over his head in a fight with a stronger opponent and need someone to stitch/patch him up. Having him owe the medic bot a favor would also help de-escalate when the truth comes out. Jack is also a bit of a hobo so him sticking around/crashing with the team would be very in-character. 

Name: Drake Hunter

Race: variant human

Class: Ranger(Marine Sniper)

Looks: 6'2", lean but strong, long chocolate brown hair runs down his neck to the base of his neck. He's wearing a urban Camo uniform (camoflauge). In his backpack he has a garbage ghillie suit.

Backstory: "Drake hunter's my name. was a soldier in the war, one of the only survivors. I faintly remembers good times with buddies at the bar. Well their all dead now" I think in my head as im picking through the ruined military base. my cubicle leaning on its side. ooh bingo, Theres my rifle and a box of 100 rounds of ammunition. well now I follow my survival training, stick to the resources. 

As I pick through to find food and tools, I start to reminisce of the old days.

"WAR!" boomed the radio "WE ARE AT WAR, We are asking all men young and old to help in the effort to fight off our enemies!" Upon hearing that I enlisted. I distinctly remember the doctor coming in. My breath caught. "welcome to the sniper corp. youll make a perfect fit." 

Then commenced my training. Hardest damn thing I had to do. wake up at o'530, make your bed and clothes, go for a 3 mile run. start practice shooting, go for a 5 mile run. eat lunch go for another 5 mile run. Shooting training, That damn pistol firing next to your ear always made you flinch at first but I guess you get used to it, Go to bed. do it again.

We did that for 8 weeks. By the end you could see the change in our eyes. we were killing machines, nothing more. Our shipment was hell. the jump from the plane got screwed up by flak and my jump buddy, who was also my spotter/ watcher lost his automatic rifle. we took our position in the 5th story of a building, Within 45 seconds of my occupation of position, the ambush came. The robots ran out of the buildings surrounding my squad on the ground floor who were clearing buildings trying to secure the sector. I was able to take out three but they overran our forces, then came for me. I gave my partner my handgun and we jumped using our used parachutes we kept. From there we took a small motor run dinghy boat and made our way back but not before my partner suffered a severe injury to hs abdomen which the afterward infection killed him.

When I saw the city my heart broke. My home, My life, everyone I loved. Dead. There is no hope. The robots have a reputation for bombing extremely effectively. There may not be any survivors except for me, But I dont believe that. Their are always survivors. Like me.

Now Im stuck with a hunting rifle with 100 shots, a pistol with 125 shots, a hatchet (handaxe). and some small rations I can find. right now my goal is to fnd other survivors and band together for a better chance at survival.

Character sheet

Another Idea for a civilian since we have a lot of military.

Name: Jacob "Jake" loweson

Race Human 

Class: fighter(civilian Doomsday preparist)

Backstory:   "I told them" I mutter under my breath emerging from the bomb shelter "I told them, I told them, I told them." I remember how It all started. My wife died from the EMP strike the robots sent. starvation. I barely made it out myself. After that, I was never the same. I started prepping for apocalyptic survival, stockpiling water food and weapons in my bunker. I trained in ju-jitsu and learned how to fire almost any gun. I have three handgun competition trophies.

It still pains me, the knot in my stomach never going away. We had plans to have kids in a couple years. It wasnt meant to be. Ive kept a picture of her on me since then, always. But that doesnt matter now. What matters is collecting survivors to my bunker so we can plan a retaliatory strike. become a milita. They wont take what we love with such impunity, we must organize, WE MUST STRIKE BACK!

"But first," I mutter "I have to find fighters."

Quote from chrisbodmann >>

Quote from groverbloom >>

Robot (pre-war medical tech)

Name: TBD

Race: Warforged

Class: Artificer

Backstory: I was a hospital bot, designed to assist doctors with the diagnosis and treatment of patients. When the war started, I was a valuable asset for treating the wounded. As things escalated, I was viewed with more and more hostility and mistrust until, eventually, I was decommissioned and placed in storage. It wasn't until much later that a scavenger (perhaps one of the other PCs) found me in the basement of the hospital and reactivated me.

 
What if you merged this concept with Scraptooth? He doesn’t have to be my pet/steel defender. They could still be a duo. Aurora could be the scavenger that found you. Maybe I rebuilt you in dog form to help you blend in more (or maybe not). 

 I do agree that a healer build artificer would be a good addition to the team and I love all the thought you've put into how to add it in to the existing concept. The more I think about, though, the more I feel like it's a solid character concept that I personally would hate playing. Hopefully someone else will see this, steal the basic idea, and make it their own.

You are a class act, groverbloom! I look forward to playing with you some other time!

Quote from ChaplainRock >>

You are a class act, groverbloom! I look forward to playing with you some other time!

 whats a class act?

Quote from burningkings >>

Quote from ChaplainRock >>

You are a class act, groverbloom! I look forward to playing with you some other time!

 whats a class act?

 Not sure if you are being serious, but assuming you are: A "class act" is an example of excellence, quality, or prestige, especially in contrast to the mediocre/commonplace performance.

Quote from ChaplainRock >>

Quote from burningkings >>

Quote from ChaplainRock >>

You are a class act, groverbloom! I look forward to playing with you some other time!

 whats a class act?

 Not sure if you are being serious, but assuming you are: A "class act" is an example of excellence, quality, or prestige, especially in contrast to the mediocre/commonplace performance.

 I was being serious. thank you.

Takes a slight break from dying of embarrassment at ChaplainRock's overly kind words.

No worries, burningkings, if you don't know the idiom I could see how it might get confused for a game mechanic.

Ability scores: 14 6 12 14 12 15

Civilian (Independent Journalist)

Race: Human

Class: Rouge (Inquisitive at level 3)

Backstory: "There has got to be more to this war that what we're being fed. Half of what we read and watch, of what we're told is the truth, is blatantly in direct opposition to what we can actually see out of blown out windows. If the people knew, knew the truth. We could end it. End the destruction. End the death. I will find out."