Hello Roll20, I'm a very experienced DM looking for about 5 players to make up a party of adventurers in the Grim Hollow setting of Etharis. It's a unique homebrew setting made by Ghostfire Gaming, that I've run for about a year now, heavily homebrewing and modifying it myself. Heroes and villains in this setting are not so black/white, and a lot of the traditional concepts of good/evil, questions of morality, and ethics are...blurred. Because this is a darker campaign setting, be prepared for darker themes. The age restriction is there for a reason, expect lots of tension and horror. If you are a fan of the Soulsborne franchises, or other similar settings and aesthetics, you will likely enjoy this game. There's a shorter game I'll run for the group to determine if we are all a good fit for one another. It'll take several sessions to complete, and then we will move onto The Citadel of the Unseen Sun module that Ghostfire Gaming released. Basic Game Info: Day/Time: Every Saturday @ 3:30 pm - 6:30 pm CST Slots: 5 players needed! Level: 3 to 5 for the initial game, and 1 to 13 for the campaign after Voice: Discord What To Expect: -Challenging combat, and memorable boss fights. Fear not...death may not be the end of your character(s). -Rich and engaging roleplay. You get what you put in, if you engage with the other people at the table and the world you're playing in, it will engage back with you, for better or worse depending on what you do. -Rewarding creativity and exploration. If you come up with a creative solution to an encounter or some conflict, and it seems like a feasible thing your character would come up/be able to accomplish, I'll do my best to let you do that! And if you poke around in the world looking for things important to your character, you may just find it! Or, it might find you... -Fair judgement and an ally to players. While I will not hold back in combat encounters, and show how the world has been shaped by your actions (for better or worse), I will not be your enemy. If it makes sense for an enemy to know what you can do, they will act accordingly. If they wouldn't or couldn't know how to best deal with you, they won't know. I won't metagame, as I expect my players to do the same. -Everything and everyone has a place. Both in game and out of it, nobody is excluded. I don't care about your race, sexuality, gender, or creed, all are equal and welcome at my table. In game, there are no faceless peons and pointless items; everything has a purpose. -I am fair, but ruthless. I can be extremely generous. I give lots of opportunities to advance your character in "power". It is on you to use that to your advantage or not. I've often given players more items than they know what to do with, more feats and class options than normally accessible, and influence throughout the world that can be felt everywhere you go. What I Expect: -I am not a fan of rules lawyers. I know the rules very well, I've been running the game a handful of years now and if I don't remember a rule I'll either ask if anyone remembers or look it up, if it's very important. If it's not, I will likely make a judgement call and expect everyone to respect that unless it is a very big deal (such as letting someone do something that would normally require a Feat or class ability). -Engaged players. If you're more of a "fly on the wall", audience style player, this probably isn't the game for you. If you just like rolling dice and watching numbers be crunched, this probably isn't the game for you. If you just like to roleplay, this probably isn't the game for you. I like to incorporate many facets into my games, and I like my players engaged with the game. -Communicative players. Outside of being active participants at the table, knowing if there are scheduling conflicts, thoughts/suggestions for the game, or issues you may have, is very important to me. You can bring it up privately over text, call, or at the end of the session with everyone present, if you so choose. I'd rather it not interrupt game time, unless it's extremely important. -Maturity/thick skin. There can be some sensitive topics in a grimdark campaign, I won't go down the list of them but these themes can come up in play. If you are easily offended, this probably isn't the game for you. Disclaimer: I'm careful about the topics I include in these types of games, and I do like to have some boundaries of course, I just don't want someone getting scared off from play at the vague or direct mention of a subject. -Cooperative, team players. I get wanting to stick to your character, and I want you to stay in character. But there can be situations where there may be in party tension or conflict. I've had situations where PvP broke out, feelings were hurt, and some people not wanting to play with others. I'd prefer we make characters who want to work together, or that won't turn on one another the moment a conflict arises. About the Setting: Grim Hollow is set in the world of Etharis, which is a relatively small world by some standards, but rife with conflict. It's ravaged by plagues, violent superstition, and to top it off...the pantheon of gods are dead, murdered by one another in madness. Grim Hollow is explicitly a grimdark world. You have a court of vampires ruling over a kingdom shrouded in eternal night, supernatural fog covering a city-state in a swampy area, and you even have nordic vikings that inhabit the far north who spend half their year in a frozen land without sun. You have the Weeping Pox devastating some cities, with the only hint of a cure coming from suspicious plague doctors asking for high costs. Humans are monsters too, make no mistake. The gods that have either died or forsaken the world of Etharis, left behind angelic and demonic lieutenants to take their place, and they are struggling to do that. It's not all bad though, unlike some other grimdark settings and stories, the "heroes" can earn meaningful hope and win small victories for mortal-kind, through immense struggle and sometimes sacrifice. The setting of Grim Hollow offers some interesting ways to advance your character in new ways, such as: feats, spells, curses (special kind of spell), and advanced weapons (including guns!). There are also "Advanced Backgrounds" that allow your character to grow in their influence over the world (wanna become an archbishop over a region? A duke working under the emperor? you can be that!). Lastly, there's Transformations, which are monstrous classes your character can take on if they wish to follow that path. There's also setting specific races and sub-classes in the Grim Hollow Player's Guide that you'll have access to, should you want to play one of those! If this seems like something you'd possibly like to take part in, feel free to add me on Discord or shoot me a message here (though discord will be faster). Grimm#7667
