Background --- 100 years ago, the sorcerer Zenopus built a tower in the low hills overlooking Portown. The tower was close to the sea cliff west of the town and, appropriately, next door to the graveyard.
Rumor has it that the magician made extensive cellars and tunnels underneath the tower. The town is located on the ruins of a much older city of doubtful history, and Zenopus was said to excavate in his cellars in search of ancient treasures.
Fifty years ago, on a cold wintry night, the wizard's tower was suddenly engulfed in green flame. Several of his human servants escaped the holocaust, saying their master had been destroyed by some powerful force he had unleashed in the depths of the tower. Needless to say, the tower stood vacant for a while after this, but then the neighbors and the night watchmen complained that ghostly blue lights appeared in the windows at night, that ghastly screams could be heard emanating from the tower at all hours, and goblin figures could be seen dancing on the tower roof in the moonlight. Finally, the authorities had a catapult rolled through the streets of the town, and the tower was battered to rubble. This stopped the hauntings, but the townsfolk continue to shun the ruins. The entrance to the old dungeons can be easily located as a flight of broad stone steps leading down into darkness, but the few adventurous souls who have descended into crypts below the ruin have either reported only empty stone corridors or have failed to return at all.
Other magic-users have moved into the town, but the site of the old tower remains abandoned. Whispered tales are told of fabulous treasure and unspeakable monsters in the underground passages below the hilltop, and the story tellers are always careful to point out that the reputed dungeons lie in close proximity to the foundations of the older, prehuman city, to the graveyard, and to the sea.
Portown is a small but busy city, linking the caravan routes from the south to the merchant ships that dare the pirate-infested waters of the Northern Sea. Humans and non-humans from all over the globe meet here. At the Green Dragon Inn, you gather for an assault on the fabulous passages beneath the ruined Wizard's tower.
I'm looking for three or so players to run through the "Sample Dungeon" from the 1977 J. Eric Holmes D&D Basic Set as an alternative to my homebrew campaign.
Characters will be first level. I think I'll limit class and race to PHB only, but if there's something else you want to play, run it by me and maybe we can work it out.
Ability scores are standard array/point buy. If you want to roll for scores, wait until you've been accepted into the game and be forewarned that there will be no take-backs. If that's going to make you want to quit, please don't waste either of our times.
Accept the starting equipment for your class and background. If you want to roll for starting wealth, you'll have to roll in the thread and, again, no take-backsies.
Variant encumbrance will be used.
A short backstory, two personality traits, an ideal, a bond, and a flaw are required. Although this is a dungeon crawl, I'll introduce situations as often as possible that will result in complications if you play to your character's personal characteristics, for which I'll award inspiration. Hopefully you'll spend the inspiration quickly which will allow me to introduce even more complications which will keep the inspiration flowing.
Advancement will be by XP which will be awarded at the conclusion of each foray into the dungeon. I usually require downtime spent in training and an expenditure of gold to level up. Continuing beyond first level with other adventures is certainly an option.
Ability checks: This is important. Please do not make ability checks unbidden or declare that your character is making an ability check. Players should describe what their character is doing in in-fiction terms, and I, the DM, will decide if an ability check is required to resolve the player's stated action. This is not negotiable, so if you're someone who has to roll Perception every time you walk into a room, maybe this isn't the game for you.
Questions: There are two types of questions a player might ask a DM in the course of a game. One is to clarify the DM's description of the environment, which is fine, although I would prefer it if players would describe their characters taking action to ascertain the information they desire. This is because the information I give out in my description is that which I consider salient, and by engaging with what I've described, often a player will be able to discover more specific information about the environment. Another type of question a player might ask the DM is about the character's knowledge about a certain thing. I'll describe things which are generally known as part of my description of the environment, but specific information known only to a PC is under the control of the player. Players wanting to establish that their character knows something are advised to declare an action whereby their character confirms the information, even if it's confirmed by their own memory.
I think that covers it. If you're still interested, post in the thread below. I haven't decided yet whether to start another thread for the game or to just run it from this thread.
I’m down to join. Seems like you’ve got things well thought out, which is the most important. One request I would have though, since you don’t want the players preemptively rolling in the thread: I’d, personally, be 100% ok with you rolling for me (since the DM can see sheets and add proper modifiers). Otherwise it could take so long to walk into the room, have you ask for the roll, and then wait for me to log in again (even if I personally do check here multiple times a day) to simply post a roll.
Glad to see you’re going with Point Buy :) Keeps everyone on equal footing.
Name: Usul Harj
Race/Class: Gnome Rogue
Quick Backstory: As a young gnome, Usul and his parents were traveling through the realm and had stopped off in <big city nearby> for a few nights. On the second night at the Inn Usul snuck down to the kitchens as everyone slept to snag some sweets for himself and look around outside just a little bit at night. It was this small mischievous act that end up saving his life though, as a fire broke out at a nearby pub, which quickly jumped to the Inn as well. Though Usul was saved, his parents died in the fire, leaving Usul orphaned in a city he didn’t know.
Finding himself on the streets, he used what skills he had to stay alive. Mostly earning coppers here and there through small illusions he could conjure, and often pick pocketing drunk tourists. This is how life went for a few years, until one day Usul was trying to sneak into a local magician’s tower and was caught. Fortunately, the magician took pity on Usul, and instead of turning him into the guard, set him to work. As their trust grew, the magician told Usul of the mysteries of Portown where he head off to see if he could earn some actual coin, and find more magical knowledge for himself.
That all assumes I'm going to ask for a roll. I might not want one, and I've found that having to ignore rolls I don't want is not only distracting for me as DM, but also obfuscates for the players when the mechanics are being utilized and when they aren't. My approach is geared towards the mechanics being transparent, rather than invisible, and for every time the dice are used to be a dramatic moment where the stakes are palpable. In that context, rolling your dice for you would not be fun for me. It would be like playing by myself.
I'm interested. I'd be running a variant human, point buy for stats, and standard starting equipment. I've got a character sheet here with my flaws and bonds, and I'd being willing to add some more if you want some more to use for hooks. https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/Contuna/characters/35637074
Backstory: Peter lost his parents at the tender age of ten, first his father to the sea, then his mother to illness. He went to an orphanage, but found the headmistress to be a needlessly boring and cruel woman, so he ran. He spent several months on the streets, nearly starving and barely making it by. Then he met Kip, a fellow Urchin a few years older than him. They decided to run together for a while, and soon gathered a small gang of other Urchins. Then one day Kip disappeared. Peter spent months looking for him, but never got any leads, and realized it was now his responsibility to care for the small family they had built. He did a good job, and under his leadership his gang garnered a decent amount of notoriety, which only grew as the children aged into adults. Peter fell in love with one of the girls in their group by the name of Miranda. During a "job" the two were running together Miranda got caught, and is currently being held in a local lords dungeon. Realizing his group couldn't gather enough money while supporting themselves Peter passed off leadership of the gang to his favorite ward, and took to the road, with hopes of gathering enough coin to buy his love's freedom, or enough skill to break her out.
I do like your Approach to the game as well as the proposed Story.
Name: Aldrich Garen Race: Human Variant (magic initiate, wizard) Class: Fighter (later either eldritch Knight or wizard) Backstory snippet: Aldrich was Student and Right had to a wizard who had distant Relations to Zenopus. One late night Experiment Aldichs master disapeared. He saw green light through the slit below the door and recognized the similarities to what happened to his teachers friend. Now he went to Portown to investigate possiblie ties.
Every inch of his squat frame fair bristles with righteous fury. His inner indignation stems from his current predicament; sworn to complete a quest of atonement, a penance for breaking the temple code. He must endure not only the privations of a common adventurer but, it would seem, suffer their company too. In his current lodgings in the inauspiciously named Green Dragon Inn, he makes his preparations - donning the weighty and slightly too-tight scale armour over his vestments, strapping his shield with its holy emblem upon his back and hanging his warhammer at his side. With an audible creak, he stoops to pick up his pack...and promptly falls over. "Probably won't need that stuff anyway", he consoles himself, leaving the pack behind.
Name: Ares Race: High Elf Class: Wizard Background: Sage Backstory: Ares grew up with magic. His father, a powerful mage in his community, was the one who taught Ares his craft. Ares was raised in a classic elven home, promoting elven morals and values above all else however, Ares was intrigued by the world and its inhabitants. Ares gathered his things and left during the night to see the world and adventure.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Tafod Haearn Mountain Dwarf Barbarian
I would like to roll stats in thread and am willing to go with whatever drips off the glistening brow of Aeronwen.
Starting gold 4 x 10 = 60
Tafod Haearn had his sweetheart stolen by an outrageous trick pulled on him by his main rival, who was able to bribe her father will a huge sum of gold. Rather than chop the scoundrel into little tiny pieces, Tafod elected to seek his fortune else were. He hopes that the bitterness he feels can be washed away in adventuring and the heat of battles surely to be found in such a life. Well gold and grog will always help to, and tavern brawls, and maybe a lusty wench with a really silky beard would sooth the bitterness, for a bit.
The link to his sheet follows, the stats are all set to 10 so I can send the link.
ddb.ac/characters/25066743/RPvAfH
I can usually post twice a day, seven days a week, love to roll play and bash things, and am a steady player. Am looking forward to playing a character through multiple dungeons, bringing them to life as it were.
As a child, Razil was always a little different than the others. He was always a little darker, always a little more cynical, always a little less....childlike. He never knew why he was like this, and acted as "normal" as he could. Growing older, he lost more and more of any childlike nature he had, and it became more difficult to notice the sneers and snickering aimed at him or his family. As his 16th birthday was approaching, and his training with his father for the family jewelry business was about to commence, he was returning home from picking up goods for the day when he saw it. A group of misfits he had never liked running away from his house, pointing backward and laughing. Then he saw the glint of the jewels in their hands, and the glistening of bloody footprints trailing behind them. Dropping everything, he ran home to see both of his parents beaten with the very tools they used to do their work. Screaming, he ran for the holy men of the village who came and prayed, but to no avail. Losing faith in everyone and everything, a rising anger grew in him that he didn't know how to control. Wandering through the woods one day, he came across a squirrel, and without knowing why picked up a rock and bashed it against the squirrel. Then he did it again, and again. Eventually, without knowing how he had gotten there, a man intervened. He spoke to Razil and promised respite, and revenge, if Razil would assist with something. Having lost everything, he agreed, not knowing the price he was going to be forced to pay. He did as he was bid that day, but will never speak of it, and now tries to suppress the feeling that led him to that place. He travels and survives, knowing full well that one day he will be forced to pay again, but plans on fighting it the entire time.
I'm looking for three or so players to run through the "Sample Dungeon" from the 1977 J. Eric Holmes D&D Basic Set as an alternative to my homebrew campaign.
Characters will be first level. I think I'll limit class and race to PHB only, but if there's something else you want to play, run it by me and maybe we can work it out.
Ability scores are standard array/point buy. If you want to roll for scores, wait until you've been accepted into the game and be forewarned that there will be no take-backs. If that's going to make you want to quit, please don't waste either of our times.
Accept the starting equipment for your class and background. If you want to roll for starting wealth, you'll have to roll in the thread and, again, no take-backsies.
Variant encumbrance will be used.
A short backstory, two personality traits, an ideal, a bond, and a flaw are required. Although this is a dungeon crawl, I'll introduce situations as often as possible that will result in complications if you play to your character's personal characteristics, for which I'll award inspiration. Hopefully you'll spend the inspiration quickly which will allow me to introduce even more complications which will keep the inspiration flowing.
Advancement will be by XP which will be awarded at the conclusion of each foray into the dungeon. I usually require downtime spent in training and an expenditure of gold to level up. Continuing beyond first level with other adventures is certainly an option.
Ability checks: This is important. Please do not make ability checks unbidden or declare that your character is making an ability check. Players should describe what their character is doing in in-fiction terms, and I, the DM, will decide if an ability check is required to resolve the player's stated action. This is not negotiable, so if you're someone who has to roll Perception every time you walk into a room, maybe this isn't the game for you.
Questions: There are two types of questions a player might ask a DM in the course of a game. One is to clarify the DM's description of the environment, which is fine, although I would prefer it if players would describe their characters taking action to ascertain the information they desire. This is because the information I give out in my description is that which I consider salient, and by engaging with what I've described, often a player will be able to discover more specific information about the environment. Another type of question a player might ask the DM is about the character's knowledge about a certain thing. I'll describe things which are generally known as part of my description of the environment, but specific information known only to a PC is under the control of the player. Players wanting to establish that their character knows something are advised to declare an action whereby their character confirms the information, even if it's confirmed by their own memory.
I think that covers it. If you're still interested, post in the thread below. I haven't decided yet whether to start another thread for the game or to just run it from this thread.
I’m down to join. Seems like you’ve got things well thought out, which is the most important. One request I would have though, since you don’t want the players preemptively rolling in the thread: I’d, personally, be 100% ok with you rolling for me (since the DM can see sheets and add proper modifiers). Otherwise it could take so long to walk into the room, have you ask for the roll, and then wait for me to log in again (even if I personally do check here multiple times a day) to simply post a roll.
Glad to see you’re going with Point Buy :) Keeps everyone on equal footing.
Name: Usul Harj
Race/Class: Gnome Rogue
Quick Backstory: As a young gnome, Usul and his parents were traveling through the realm and had stopped off in <big city nearby> for a few nights. On the second night at the Inn Usul snuck down to the kitchens as everyone slept to snag some sweets for himself and look around outside just a little bit at night. It was this small mischievous act that end up saving his life though, as a fire broke out at a nearby pub, which quickly jumped to the Inn as well. Though Usul was saved, his parents died in the fire, leaving Usul orphaned in a city he didn’t know.
Finding himself on the streets, he used what skills he had to stay alive. Mostly earning coppers here and there through small illusions he could conjure, and often pick pocketing drunk tourists. This is how life went for a few years, until one day Usul was trying to sneak into a local magician’s tower and was caught. Fortunately, the magician took pity on Usul, and instead of turning him into the guard, set him to work. As their trust grew, the magician told Usul of the mysteries of Portown where he head off to see if he could earn some actual coin, and find more magical knowledge for himself.
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
That all assumes I'm going to ask for a roll. I might not want one, and I've found that having to ignore rolls I don't want is not only distracting for me as DM, but also obfuscates for the players when the mechanics are being utilized and when they aren't. My approach is geared towards the mechanics being transparent, rather than invisible, and for every time the dice are used to be a dramatic moment where the stakes are palpable. In that context, rolling your dice for you would not be fun for me. It would be like playing by myself.
I'm interested. I'd be running a variant human, point buy for stats, and standard starting equipment. I've got a character sheet here with my flaws and bonds, and I'd being willing to add some more if you want some more to use for hooks. https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/Contuna/characters/35637074
Backstory: Peter lost his parents at the tender age of ten, first his father to the sea, then his mother to illness. He went to an orphanage, but found the headmistress to be a needlessly boring and cruel woman, so he ran. He spent several months on the streets, nearly starving and barely making it by. Then he met Kip, a fellow Urchin a few years older than him. They decided to run together for a while, and soon gathered a small gang of other Urchins. Then one day Kip disappeared. Peter spent months looking for him, but never got any leads, and realized it was now his responsibility to care for the small family they had built. He did a good job, and under his leadership his gang garnered a decent amount of notoriety, which only grew as the children aged into adults. Peter fell in love with one of the girls in their group by the name of Miranda. During a "job" the two were running together Miranda got caught, and is currently being held in a local lords dungeon. Realizing his group couldn't gather enough money while supporting themselves Peter passed off leadership of the gang to his favorite ward, and took to the road, with hopes of gathering enough coin to buy his love's freedom, or enough skill to break her out.
Torrin Delmirev - Into the Abyss
Krusk - Rime of the Frost Maiden
I do like your Approach to the game as well as the proposed Story.
Name: Aldrich Garen
Race: Human Variant (magic initiate, wizard)
Class: Fighter (later either eldritch Knight or wizard)
Backstory snippet: Aldrich was Student and Right had to a wizard who had distant Relations to Zenopus. One late night Experiment Aldichs master disapeared. He saw green light through the slit below the door and recognized the similarities to what happened to his teachers friend. Now he went to Portown to investigate possiblie ties.
Edit: Link to character sheet -> https://ddb.ac/characters/35589983/wbUXJk
May I present...
Muirgurn Fettercairn, Hill Dwarf Cleric of Life.
Every inch of his squat frame fair bristles with righteous fury. His inner indignation stems from his current predicament; sworn to complete a quest of atonement, a penance for breaking the temple code. He must endure not only the privations of a common adventurer but, it would seem, suffer their company too. In his current lodgings in the inauspiciously named Green Dragon Inn, he makes his preparations - donning the weighty and slightly too-tight scale armour over his vestments, strapping his shield with its holy emblem upon his back and hanging his warhammer at his side. With an audible creak, he stoops to pick up his pack...and promptly falls over. "Probably won't need that stuff anyway", he consoles himself, leaving the pack behind.
Contuna, for some reason, I can't get the link to your character sheet to work. What class is Peter?
Name: Ares
Race: High Elf
Class: Wizard
Background: Sage
Backstory: Ares grew up with magic. His father, a powerful mage in his community, was the one who taught Ares his craft. Ares was raised in a classic elven home, promoting elven morals and values above all else however, Ares was intrigued by the world and its inhabitants. Ares gathered his things and left during the night to see the world and adventure.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/leapingmountain/characters/35683782
sorry about that, I'll try to repost the link, he's a rogue
https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/Contuna/characters/35637074
let's see if that works
Torrin Delmirev - Into the Abyss
Krusk - Rime of the Frost Maiden
Tafod Haearn Mountain Dwarf Barbarian
I would like to roll stats in thread and am willing to go with whatever drips off the glistening brow of Aeronwen.
Starting gold 4 x 10 = 60
Tafod Haearn had his sweetheart stolen by an outrageous trick pulled on him by his main rival, who was able to bribe her father will a huge sum of gold. Rather than chop the scoundrel into little tiny pieces, Tafod elected to seek his fortune else were. He hopes that the bitterness he feels can be washed away in adventuring and the heat of battles surely to be found in such a life. Well gold and grog will always help to, and tavern brawls, and maybe a lusty wench with a really silky beard would sooth the bitterness, for a bit.
The link to his sheet follows, the stats are all set to 10 so I can send the link.
ddb.ac/characters/25066743/RPvAfH
I can usually post twice a day, seven days a week, love to roll play and bash things, and am a steady player. Am looking forward to playing a character through multiple dungeons, bringing them to life as it were.
Panic is a mechanism that strengthens the gene pool.
Point of clarification: It's take starting equipment or roll for starting wealth, not both.
Okay, Tafod has purchased all his starting equipment from that 60gp.
Panic is a mechanism that strengthens the gene pool.
I am intrigued, and would like to be considered:
I present for your consideration Razil Trympan, Tiefling Warlock: https://ddb.ac/characters/35706990/rw2uXm
As a child, Razil was always a little different than the others. He was always a little darker, always a little more cynical, always a little less....childlike. He never knew why he was like this, and acted as "normal" as he could. Growing older, he lost more and more of any childlike nature he had, and it became more difficult to notice the sneers and snickering aimed at him or his family. As his 16th birthday was approaching, and his training with his father for the family jewelry business was about to commence, he was returning home from picking up goods for the day when he saw it. A group of misfits he had never liked running away from his house, pointing backward and laughing. Then he saw the glint of the jewels in their hands, and the glistening of bloody footprints trailing behind them. Dropping everything, he ran home to see both of his parents beaten with the very tools they used to do their work. Screaming, he ran for the holy men of the village who came and prayed, but to no avail. Losing faith in everyone and everything, a rising anger grew in him that he didn't know how to control. Wandering through the woods one day, he came across a squirrel, and without knowing why picked up a rock and bashed it against the squirrel. Then he did it again, and again. Eventually, without knowing how he had gotten there, a man intervened. He spoke to Razil and promised respite, and revenge, if Razil would assist with something. Having lost everything, he agreed, not knowing the price he was going to be forced to pay. He did as he was bid that day, but will never speak of it, and now tries to suppress the feeling that led him to that place. He travels and survives, knowing full well that one day he will be forced to pay again, but plans on fighting it the entire time.
"Mark": Goliath Paladin - Shipwrecked on Fugue: A Journey of Self-Discovery
Razil Trympan: Tiefling Warlock - The Tower of Zenopus
Thanks for all the great responses. This was a hard decision, and I'll keep anyone I didn't select in mind if any replacements are needed.
Recruitment is now closed.