East of the Grey Spine Mountains, that which spans miles upon miles, surrounded by forests of pine and cold, pale mists, the country of Ostoya stands in challenge and staunch opposition against the Bürach Empire. Their continued resistance is a testament to their perceived might and threat, for despite the Empire's extensive military, funding, and resources, they are still reluctant to wage a full-scale invasion against their neighbor. Ostoya itself is a haunted nation, steeped in necromancy and secret, unholy pacts. Beneath the surface of the land lies a vast sunken metropolis, the City Below, through which untold hordes of undead and unknowable, unspeakable horrors roam and often reach the surface. This undead plague was the catalyst that created the Crimson Court, a vampire aristocracy that now rules over the southern province of Soma, and have thus held all challengers to their power at bay. It is here your story begins. A traveler from a distant land ,perhaps? A local? For whatever reason, you find yourself in Ostoya. You possess nothing but the clothes on your back, your meagre belongings, and whatever gear you could muster. The war does not exactly provide much for those who travel alone. Your wanderings take you across the Grey Spine and into the region of Soma. A village lay in distance. Settled upon a hill where the narrow path leading through the forest between you and the small bastion of civilization is beginning to blend and disappear entirely back into the wilderness. Indeed, everything you have seen since your last real signs of civilization has had the same feeling of slow retreat and disintegration. More than once, you have passed by strange signs and indications - bones arranged in a circle around a human skull; a small, red-stained wicker basket by the side of the road; an unmarked grave in the dappled shade of the trees. Eventually, you lay eyes on the distinctive hill upon which the village can be seen. A small cluster of buildings exists upon the top of the hill - you can just barely see the half-collapsed roof of an ancient temple that may once have been a place of worship for one of the dead gods. Even at a distance, the place looks run down. Though the village may be barely fortified, the hill itself is steep and there is only one path that leads to the top. A moment of hesitance washes over you, but you see the ever-darkened clouds crackling with faint green lightning - you hear the horrifying howl of some beast in the woods and remember why you sought out civilization in the first place. You steel your resolve and brace for the climb. After all, anywhere is better than out here... right...? ____________________ READ EVERYTHING PLEASE! Welcome! Glad to have you guys along for the ride! Let's get introductions out of the way first. I'm Rat. I'm a 23-year-old professional DM whose been running games for around 7 years. Normally, I run paid games for people, but I'm running a game for friends and we are lacking a player or two. So I've opened up some slots for some people to apply and hopefully hop into the game! The party currently consists of a Human Beastmaster Ranger, a Kalashtar Brawler Fighter (homebrew subclass), and an Elf Ranger/Rogue multiclass. There is also an Sorcerer NPC party companion who has been travelling with the group since session 1. Anyways, this is a campaign where I am pulling quite a bit from the Grim Hollow campaign guide. It's meant to be a gritty and dark campaign, but please don't use that as an excuse to be an asshole to any of the people at the table. There are heavy themes that may be discussed or talked about during the sessions. Just a heads up. I'll do my best to avoid stepping on any toes, but there are places that I will go for the sake of pushing the narrative and setting the tone. Let it be known that I don't condone any jokes or ill-intentioned jabs at these heavy topics, and these are purely here for storytelling purposes. There will also be quite a few additional rules and features that'll be added to the games. A couple of them are definitely skewed a bit to the player's benefit, but that's because it gives me an excuse to up the difficulty of the combats a fair bit; while also making you all a bit more versatile and powerful. Examples of additional rules: Everyone gets Rapid Drinker. (You can drink potions as a bonus action) Modified Crits (No double damage, or dice. Rather, it is rolled damage + maximized dice damage) Additional Proficiencies equal to your Intelligence Modifier Luck Dice. (Dice you can add to any roll. This one is better explained in person.) Modified rests. and etc. You'll be starting at 5th level and stats will be rolled. I generally allow all WotC material, some UA, and some homebrew. I'm pretty flexible when it comes to that. So long as you run it by me, and it's not TOO crazy, then it should be fine. Also, add HOOPLAH somewhere in your character's name as proof that you've read everything. If you don't have it, I won't consider your application even if it's the Mona Lisa of all Roll20 applications. We'll be using Discord to chat during game sessions and for the interviews. There is definitely gonna be a session where we iron out all the rules, concerns, and expectations. With all that said, I hope to see all of your applications! Just fill out the application form as written. Please don't have everything in bold, so that my eyes do not perish. Also, please no half-assed answers like "I'm somewhere between 20-40." Be creative, and have fun! Game Link: <a href="https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/291363/ascension-shadows-over-ostoya" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/291363/ascension-shadows-over-ostoya</a>
