You just found your GM! Lord knows how many people will actually show up and/or stay for at least a few hours, so I'm not going to plan anything extensive, but I will indulge you folks with a lax 1st-level adventure that more or less follows the 5e ruleset. I plan to start getting everyone together at around 8:30 EST, and hopefully begin actually playing no later than 9:00 EST. The game will end at roughly 12:00 EST. I won't hold it against you if you need to leave a bit earlier than that, but please don't sign up if you know that you only have an hour or two to spare. GROUND RULES 1. Have a functional microphone and headphones or earbuds. Also be willing to mute yourself when you aren't talking if you have background noise going on. Probably going to use Skype, as that seems to be the default for short-notice games, but that isn't set in stone. 2. Be familiar enough with the rules that you won't spend fifteen minutes trying to calculate your attack modifier, but don't be so attached to the rules that you aren't willing to let some things slide. I plan to try to keep the action moving, and since none of us know each other's preferred play-styles, I'll probably end up needing to make some spontaneous rulings that you might not entirely agree with. If I totally botch a rule that everyone else agrees upon, feel free to correct me, but if there's any debate as to how something works, I get the final say. 3. None of us are going to be familiar with each other's play-styles, so be prepared to make some compromises that stray from your thematic norm. Try to keep the roleplaying at a 14A rating or lower, just to be safe. Stay in the mindset of moderate seriousness and moderate realism, and make an honest attempt not to go too far in either direction. NECESSARY PREPARATIONS 1. Make a 1st-level character of any officially-supported race and class. Optional rules are fine; just don't throw me a curveball with any totally custom stuff. Try to use the most recent character building resources that are available to you. If any particular aspect of your character is broken and/or outdated, I reserve the right to ask you to change it. I will also be making a few bare-bones pregen sheets that are based on iconic archetypes. If you don't have time to make a character, or if you happen to die mid-game, you can pick one of them. These pregens will not be legally-built characters! They are only intended as a fallback if necessary. 2. Give your character a simple personality. We aren't going to have weeks upon weeks of plot development to figure out "the real you". This is one situation where characters with obvious quirks and motives score you bonus points. Please spend a few minutes to come up with something interesting even if you plan to use a pregen. I will only be providing a set of stats; the roleplay portion is up to you. 3. If you want in, send me a PM. I'll invite you to the Roll20 "campaign", which is where we'll converge around 8:30 EST. I want to get everybody together there before migrating to Skype or one of its alternatives. First come, first served. If I end up with, like, seven people all trying to get in at once, I'm going to have to decline people, so make sure you realize that PMing me isn't an absolute guarantee that I'll have room for you.
