About me: My name is Spyker. I'm a forever DM. I've DM'd for a very long time. I'm very passionate about what I do, and the (way too much lore) homebrew setting me and my players have developed over the years. I'm looking for a 6th player (and potentially 5th, depending if they continue with us or not) to join my Saturday night group that can/willing to keep up with that passion. The Setting: The latest flirtation with 'oblivion', the vast endless void which separates the planes, resulted in an ancient emperor of the evil 'Dark Empire' being freed from his once eternal prison. Long forgotten, this planar emperor now known as the 'Traveler' had already conquered a portion of the multiverse, and with his freedom he undertook an invasion of Terra that brought nearly a third of the First Lands to its knees. Even the Goddess of Victory allowed him to 'Rule Over All'... for a day. But after a long and bitter struggle, Hero's seized sacred mantles, ascended to the divine, and finally slew him once and for all. The 'Oblivion Crisis' as its come to be called has had far reaching consequences. With entire nations reeling from the destruction, a power void of unprecedented scale has formed among those spared. An audacious plan is forged in dark rooms from those with the ambition and ability. And a revanchist wave spurs the Empire of Ceresia (The Holy Empire of Light) to action. There will never be a greater opportunity, a better time then now to restore the Phoenix Throne once more over all of humanity. The 'Pax Eslinia' is over, and now it is an 'Age of Ash', a time of unparalleled destruction, but like the Holy Phoenix, rebirth! We start this campaign at the beginning of this revanchist effort, as the HEL invades the Kingdom of Bar from the north east, seizing the Barrois throne and one of the most important cities in the world (T'jion). This pushes Bar's aristocracy to the brink of collapse, but the HEL will be answered from the west, as the Empire of Eslinia refuses to give up on its sphere of influence. It too will march, and t he Barrois kingdom will become the battlefield of two great Empires fighting for its throne. And you, adventurer, will help decide its fate. Who will be King? Who can you trust? Who will be revealed as traitors? What noble secrets will need to be uncovered? Is the war just a facade for the fundamentalists to impose their draconian demands? And what of those who lurk in the long shadows of the war? Will Bar's cries for independence be washed away in a 'Deluge of Sound?' The Kingly Map: The Hook: They say hero's stopped the Traveler. That the god's intervened, aided them! The Lightbringer himself once again preventing darkness from overtaking our world! For what good that does us. The King remains dead. Slain by the Traveler's horde. And with no heir to the throne, the nation hasn't even been allowed to mourn... Word just arrived this morning that a foreign army marched into the capital, T'Jion, unopposed. The regency council has been disbanded. The dukes are running back to their castles. The drums of war are a distant beat today. But they will rise into a deluge of sound of which none can escape. What an awful day in Bar-le-Duc... Campaign Settings: System: D&D 5e - 1D&D Tools: Roll20, Discord (Mic mandatory) Language: English Day: Saturday, 7pm EST Frequency: Weekly Duration: 4~ hours Starting level: 3 Total players 5-6 18+ Free to play Combat/Roleplay Ratio: 40/60% And with that out of the way, here's some "how I run my table" details: As a rule, I'm Rule of Cool > Rules as Intended > Rules as Written DM. I love bending the rules for story. That said, as DM, my decisions are final, and we move on. Tentatively, we are starting this campaign Sept 21st. It will be a (brand new) campaign, but the 3rd in this setting, and it is heavily influenced by the events of the prior 2 on the world. You will not need to know the details of them to find your place in this campaign. You can consider my table "challenging", you will not need to make an 'optimal' character. I tailor the experience to the party as a whole, and go after your strengths and weaknesses. We will be running 1D&D (Ie: The 2024 update to the PHB) "adjacent" " What does this mean?" That means we will be playing very close to the suggested rules (RAI), though there are plenty of minor tweaks, often for mechanical/gameplay reasons. If you like a lot of the variant rules from Tasha's, you might like my table. There is a homebrew a document that details it fully, but major changes include: Do to the 2D limitations of Roll20, Flying is reworked to more of a "Hover" for both players and monsters. "Death's Door" replaces the unconscious/death saving throw system - Now you can choose to do your turn normally, at increasing levels of risk of instant permadeath. A fully updated/buffed list of feats, following the guidance for 1D&D A unique "Loot Table" system for magic items and consumables. Loot custom magic items that are tailor made for the party, take your favorite features and combine them into insidiously overpowered combinations as the campaign progresses. Keep in mind, that the new PHB rules will be new to all of us, so expect some shenanigans as we all get used to the updated features. Know that your actions and decisions have consequences on the story and world as a whole, even seemingly small decisions may have a butterfly effect that I incorporate down the road! And heres a juicy preview of the amount of effort already put into the game: What I'm looking for: Expectations would for this game to be 1+ year long. Ending somewhere between level 12-16. This is a long term campaign, and the expectation will be that you show up on time and regularly. Reasonable exceptions obviously allowed. You see the campaign as a serious hobby you are committed to, and not something you can walk away from at your leisure. I'm not looking for mindless adventurers with a lust for gold and glory, I want deep backstories with justifications for why your character is the way they are. I want your friends, your enemies, and I want to see how your character deals with tragedy, the war, and the moral ambiguity around them. You are committed to the roleplay, and willing to stay in character as much as possible, expanding their story and character development. Your comfortable where character death/survival are major aspects you must address. Where danger and betrayal are always lurking behind the corner. No powerbuilds. While I love seeing players reach power fantasies, lets avoid the most easily abusable parts of 5e. Its a better story. Disclosure: I touch on very serious topics, and these may be incorporated in the story, if you are uncomfortable navigating these topics as a character, don't apply. Keep in mind, a lot of this is "Fade to black" and solely for story purposes. Abuse(Mental & Physical), Death, Failure, Religion, Profanity, Slavery, Sex, Trauma, Torture, etc If you're interested, send me a dm on discord (spyker92#8002) or via Roll20, and we can discuss in greater detail. Feel free to bring char / concept / build ideas, and we can go back and forth on lore. Just know that final acceptance will depend on submission of an acceptable origin story. I care far more about your ability to roleplay and keep a consistent character then your knowledge of the mechanical game, I'm very beginner friendly.
