"In the Kingdom of Fellneral, tension is brewing, the King is dead, and greedy power grabs are rampant. Dangerous magic storms and beasts, remnants of the now dead "Mad Sorcerer", who plagued the kingdom for decades, reap chaos. But that is not your worry right now, right now, you are just an adventurer who got a letter from a raven, "I've heard of your exploits, I have a job, meet in Breibury Docks, if you want the job. You''ll find me in The Cracked Goblet, meeting will be in three days. From, Flickwit!" Those three days are up, and you stand in the Cracked Goblet, looking for your employer.

So, I am running a basic high fantasy homebrew D&D world. I know the basic lore of the world, an idea for a story, and even a map! Even though I have ran pre-written campaigns on this website before, but this is by first time running a homebrew game & setting, so I want to set clear expectations fo this, I will try my best, but I am not an expert. The lore is not completely original, like I am keeping the underdark & feywild. I want this to be mainly sandbox, I have a starting adventure, but after that, I will write the rest based on what the players do.

If this sounds interesting, write a post below with these things: Write a character concept, this does not have to be final, I have changed some races lore-wise and it would feel unfair to lock you into a character without knowing all the lore. That being said, I cannot possibly fit all the lore on this post, but if you want to know something about a certain location on the map, or about the history of a race or the world in general, ask me in this thread. Now, back to application stuff, write your characters, (not final) race, class, history and goals. And character in this campaign will start out at third level. (Roll for stats, roll 4, drop lowest, reroll 1 once)

Finally, rules that I use. All core books, CR and UA are allowed, except for warforged & artifcer (doesn't fit the setting). There is no tracking rations, but there will be tracking encumbrance, not using coin weight. Milestone leveling. And finally (again) homebrew rules: You can attune to magic items with one action and unattune in 10 minutes, also I'm giving my bosses evil actions. (Basically weaker legendary actions)

Alright, like I said, if your still interested post below. I look forward to seeing them.

First time player here and I’m totally flexible with changing the character if needed, but I have a fully developed this character already.  Heres the link:  https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/SoulLink7/characters/50237252

Character Name: Kolton Orbmantle

Class: Rogue/Arcane Trickster

Race: Human Variant

Ability Scores: 7, 17, 10, 8, 16, 13

Sounds really interesting!  I have an idea for a halfling charlatan who tried to scam one village too many.  Thrown in jail instead of stocks, he struck a bargain with a devil to earn his release and became a warlock as a result.  Now he is trying to find his way to do good in the world and leave the criminal life behind; he just has to balance his newfound conscience with the demands of his patron.

I promise this is not a 'my character would do this so I'm stealing/killing stuff' cliche, he's genuinely conflicted and hates being pushed into a corner where he has to do 'wrong' - picking locks, lying, etc - because he's good at it.

(If I'm not successful then good luck!  I'd love to follow the game anyway and pick up tips)

Edit:

In terms of history, Osborn has scammed many villages and small hamlets in the past using a variety if tricks such as selling placebos to hypochondriacs and starting pyramid schemes in areas that value gold.  He claimed to have just been making a living, but in truth he liked the idea of 'winning' at something.  When the devil Corynax agreed to release him from jail, Osborn assumed that a clean sheet would be part of the bargain - it was not, and so he has to keep an eye over his shoulder at all times in case his past catches up.  In the meantime he sets about trying to turn his powers to good; exposing con artists and looking out for the vulnerable.  His efforts are hampered by his patron, who takes great pleasure in seeing Osborn resort to his true talents (such as having to deceive his way past a guard, or selling a trinket as a masterpiece in order to afford lodgings)

Ability rolls (using roll 4 & drop lowest, can reroll if you want to use different rules) 16 12 10 16 11 13

I am interested. I have a bard character in mind. 

Name: Professor Thaddeus Holland

Race: Human Variant

class: Bard (eloquence)

Ability scores: 15 17 13 11 14 16

Description: He is an older man who has spent his life in universities or colleges researching and studying cultures. His specific study is warfare and combat. He isn’t a battle master or tactician. He knows precisely how to correctly stand, precisely how to swing the blade, how to hold the blade, how to block and to what angle, where and when to strike. He is attempting to write the definitive scientific research on combat technique.  He has studied ancient and modern martial training in many forms and teaches classes on its theory and application. However he has no practical experience. He has never been in a fight and so doesn’t know what battle feels like or how to actually put into practice what he has studied and taught. 

Now as he is getting older he has decided that he wants to go into the world, seek adventure, and to study first hand, the combat skills he has researched and taught his whole life. He is a bard but uses his voice as his weapon, he can mesmerize classrooms with his words, his insights into proper technique are outstanding and he uses it to inspire his teammates or ridicule his enemies (Is that how you hold your sword? Oh nonono that will never work!). His “instrument” is his textbook that he lectures from and he stands upon the battlefield using his words as magic.

This is how I imagine him. He has taught military leaders, nobles and their soldiers, and is comfortable in high society as well as low since he has spent time studying and watching fighters and martial artists train for years.

This is a rough start of his background. More of a character concept. I plan on writing a more in depth background.

Interested. 

Placeholder.

Name: Zarid.

Class (and future subclass): Bard. (Collège of Whispers)

Race: Fairy (UA)

Backstory:

Zarid was a charlatan that played music and took advantage of smelling like fresh brownies (a fairy trait)  to earn money. One day, he discovered he could use magic to do that. Now, he uses magic to benefit himself from others and takes advantage of them if he can. (BTW, this isn't a character that just tries to get money, but also interacts and other stuff.)

Ability scores: 14 11 15 12 15 8

For stat generation, roll 4, drop lowest and reroll ones once

Quote from VeloElo >>

For stat generation, roll 4, drop lowest and reroll ones once

 New stats: 16 8 11 13 10 9

(placeholder until I finish my filling out my character sheet.)

Ability scores: 17 10 11 11 12 16 

Name: Gromedark

Race: Bugbear

Class: Rogue (subclass:) Assassin

Background: Charlatan

Backstory: Gromedark is a deserter from the (hobgoblin army or equivalent in your campaign). He fled into the (hills or mountains) and was found by elven monks. They trained him to be an Assassin before he left to return to civilization. Upon arriving in the (village/town/city) he created a False Identity (background feature) of Gromedark.

Gromedark is a map-maker and will barter to sell his maps for more than they are worth. They are good maps as he is skilled and has the tools of Cartography. Some of them he keeps for himself and will often make maps as he travels.

Having decided to leave his distant past far behind him. Gromedark has assumed his False Identity (background feature) as his main identity (the name is new, even though I have used it throughout his backstory).

Gromedark often uses his identity as a map-maker to get out of situations if he can (wherever and whenever it might be applicable). Since his arrival in the (village/town/city) he has built his identity of Gromedark into a respected guild member of the Cartographers. (He is currently looking to come up with 5 gp for his monthly dues.)

Goals: Gromedark wants to acquire 5 gp before the month is up to pay his guild dues and maintain a good standing with the Guild of Cartographers. Long-term he would like to gain enough wealth and/or power to live a life of luxury.

 Ability scores: 16 17 14 13 11 13

Sorry, re-rolled 1s too many times.

Ability scores: 15 14 17 14 16 9

Kronk is an abomination, there is no other word for it.  It seems a rather insane Necromancer was experimenting with mashing together different corpses and body parts.  In one experiment, his last, unfortunately for him (or maybe not), he was working with the corpse of an halfling and a corpse of an ogre (one of which might have been the original Kronk, who ever that was, but that would be really stretching it.)  Needless to say he was working 'discretely,' for fear of persecution you see, out in the middle of nowhere in a very secluded wood.  As it happened a thunder and lightening storm sprang up out of nowhere, putting him into a pretty foul mood; but the upshot was dramatic to say the least.  Just as he cast the final parts of the spell he was struck by one fork of a bolt of lightening, the other one struck the halfling/ogre meat he was working on.  It appears to have killed the necromancer but at the same time transferred his life force into the mess he was ensorcelling, causing it to animate into the being that calls itself Kronk.  By-the-by, for some reason unknown to himself, Kronk HATES necromancers.  He has no memory of what happened, just remembers coming to in a storm next to a rather crispy corpse and the brutal struggle to find a place in the world that followed.  Kronk has a rather strange affinity for dead things, not anything really corrupt or depraved, but he thinks that they talk to him and that he can sometimes talk to them.  He has no fear in that regard.  I class Kronk as a half-orc, but he is not really, as stated he is a monstrosity, with a rather intense charisma for such a creature.  He thinks that lightening gives him powers, just what kind, well it could be that he is just delusional, but who knows, there are stranger things running around. When he became aware of his surroundings the first time he was very confused, no thoughts entered his head as to what had happened or what was going on.  Stumbling around in the woods he came upon the necromancer's abode wherein he found supplies and, most fortuitously for him, a tunic and coif of chainmail that fit, not only that, it would help hide what he was from unsympathetic folk who would rather burn him to a crisp - the Frankenstein Syndrome one might say.  He also found the iron bar that he uses as a weapon of choice at the present time, and that strange medallion, the one made from some strange red metal, depicting a ghastly alien creature consuming itself.  Most folk would find it extremely disturbing to look upon  Secretly, in his heart of hearts, Kronk thinks that the creature depicted in the medallion created him.  For quite some time, Kronk wandered the edges of civilized spaces trying to figure out how to fit in; he soon came to realize that he could make room for himself using the iron bar and his ferocious strength to make himself fit.  People now rarely give him much grief and, surprisingly, seem to be rather polite around him.

 Obviously, Kronk is the tank sort of character, he likes to smash things when he feels sorry for himself; if it's a necromancer, as relayed above, it doesn't matter how he feels, it's almost instant berserk.

Hi - sounds really interesting.  Have a couple of character ideas (still level 1).

Name: Herbert West, Race: Rock Gnome, Class: Wizard.  Set up standard array, but happy to roll.  Char Sheet.  High level backstory: Kicked out by his family and village for having innate talents in Necromancy he has since travelled, never really settling.  Doing small adventuring type tasks to earn money.  Alignment would be Good, it's not his fault he has these talents.  Quite like the idea of a happy gnome knocking about with Nercomancy talents.

Name: Zadok Allan, Race: Half Elf, Class: Bard (Sailor background).  Again standard array char sheet. High level backstory: Left his fishing village after it was decimated by an unknown plague.  Found himself under the tutorage of a master bard. Arms covered in tattoos and scars.

Ability scores: 12 12 11 12 16 16 

Marius Hikkaru - Human v - Bloodhunter (profane soul- Undying) - Butler?

Marius is the name given to him by a vampire lord of great power. He was born into servitude, and was the “butler” for said lord. Keeping things tidy. Shiny. Dark. And in particular: quiet. His lord hated to be interrupted- in particular- with incessant squeaking shoes on polished floors, and showed his displeasure by hurting Marius. He learned at a very young age to fashion the soles of his own shoes to be quiet indeed. As he grew older, he learned how to tap into the powers his Lord held at his disposal. His lord even began teaching Marius these skills and magics, seeing Marius as a tool growing more useful. That is, until Marius arranged for the sun to shine on his lord. Since then, he has been a hunter of evil. Intelligent, quick, and good with a blade, his skills are useful even when not hunting the supernatural predators of the world. And his notoriety has earned him an invitation to the Cracked Goblet.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/nschrock/characters/50291458

Meet : Vorenus the Great

Ability scores: 11 17 14 13 15 14

Class : Wild Magic Sorcerer (who pretends / halfway believes he's a wizard).  Race : Variant Human.  Background : Charlatan

Backstory :

Vorenus never really knew who his father was. He liked to think that his father was a powerful wizard who came into town, had a go with an attractive young servant girl (his mother, Sevilia), and teleported out of town, with smoke and shimmering, twinkling lights. He dreamed about what his father knew about him, whether he even knows that he exists. He grew up wanting to be like a father that he never knew. Except it didn't really go like that.

Vorenus wasn't brilliant in studying his letters, he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. But he always felt that he could be. So he kept studying hard. And pored over every book, letter, or scrap of paper that he could find about anything magical. But it didn't really stick. He found over years that he could produce magical effects, but he couldn't really control them. He would act as though he "meant to do it" just as it turned out, but he was baffled as much as everyone else as to how magic happened. He became skilled in his deceptions and explanations as to how his magic worked, but it was all a line of B.S. He travelled with true adventurers, pawning himself off as a wizard with great powers, even with a fake "spellbook" which he would ponder and pour through at length - and produce sorcerous magic which came from who knows where. He even wore (at times) a fake beard, to make himself look more important and learn-ed. What a crock.

Vorenus has powers, true powers, which he wishes to use for good and to become a powerful "wizard", he just doesn't know or understand how it is happening. He walks into the Cracked Goblet, looking around for Flickwit, trying to identify him, or any other adventurers that are joined together in a group that he could convince that he is "Vorenus the Great."

Character Sheet :  https://ddb.ac/characters/47862224/ojvTdb

Ability scores: 15 14 11 13 14 16

https://ddb.ac/characters/49691874/DnMrVg

Are there any changes to Bugbears in your homebrew campaign?

If so, like you mentioned, I might want to change the race of my character.

Yes, goblinoids are quite similar to how they work in The Forgotten Realms

Gromedark - D&D Beyond (dndbeyond.com)

This should be a link to my character sheet. I don't want to update my original post any more in case it messes up the rolls I got.

Interested, putting a placeholder and rolling stats

Ability scores: 13 14 13 15 17 10

Name: Orin Thorngauge

Race/Class: Stout Halfling/ Barbarian 

Backstory:    Orin was small , even for a Halfling. The middle child to a farmer and weaver, Orin has 4 older siblings and 3 younger ones. Always picked on for his size he grew quick to anger, and was often in fights growing up. The only places he felt more at peace were on hunting trips with his father and brothers.

On one of these trips they were surprised by a bear and his oldest brother and father were severely wounded. This was the first time Orin can remember the rage taking hold of him. Defending his youngest brother and seeing his older brother and father bleeding on the ground, something welled up inside him. He grabbed a sizable tree trunk and swung it so hard that the bear tumbled backwards and ran off into the woods.

He now travels the land, looking for that same bear and living a life of fun and rabbelrousing. Taking jobs in towns he comes to. He has become known as something of a monster hunter, going into the dark and scary places to protect those who need it (and can pay him as well).

Character Sheet

LINK.