Greetings all Ye of Bold and Brave Blood. I hope this missive finds you in good health and better spirits, I have been DMing for a long time, and need new players, everyone in my last
group has gone on in life and no possibility to get together currently.
Not the first time I have had this experience, been playing since 1979,
and have started several groups over the years. However there are no
local gaming groups, or clubs or even gaming stores withing a reasonable
distance hosting any games. Anyway, I know my stuff, have a campaign,
but require some level of maturity from my players. To be sure I want
an open ended campaign, reaching epic levels but the campaign's end
draws closer each time I am forced to deal with rules lawyering,
min/maxing, shallow character development, sandbox play, meta gaming,
the bulling of other players, and the like. I do not have to reach epic levels to have fun, but it
sure would be nice to have a group make the effort worth it, once again. My games are about story, character development, and the harsh reality that adventuring is very dangerous, even if rewarding I have a homebrew campaign, more than 20 years in the making, which is still evolving and growing. I use mostly 3.5 but am beginning to bring on a change over to Pathfinder. I do use still some material from earlier editions as needed, and a very limited selection of 3rd party stuff. I do use some house rules. I do not run games for evil characters, or characters designed to, or played in a way as to create unnecessary tension with the other members of the group, and or disruptive to the story at hand. People come and go in life all the time, and that should be no different from a character's point of view. With this in mind, and since there seems to be no shortage of players to DM's I will be as selective as necessary as to whom will be invited back to each session. Just as I am sure some will move on of their own accord. I like groups consisting of 2-8 players, with leadership filling in if needed. I prefer to focus on campaigns from a human perspective, at least initially at lower levels, with room for more varied perspectives as the campaign advances. I do not require you begin as a human, but as a core race. And I prefer the majority be humans, at least initially, but again not forced. If you want to play something unusual, we can talk, but you should make a human for now, and help me get the story moving before any deals are made. Sometimes making a character you know you will only be playing a few levels can be a fun, and takes the sting out of making the ultimate sacrifice for your companions if the need arises. Such roleplaying would surely be considered when any requests come for that unusual race you would like to try playing. If you are the type of person that wants to stick with one character, and character death is too much to handle, I may not be your best choice for a DM. I do not kill players on purpose. But, I will not pull punches for poor choices or if combat is pressed when not necessary, or when the story demands such heightened levels of danger. I am human and make mistakes. I will do my best to avoid them, but if a miscalculation on my part looks fatal for the campaign, as in TPK, I am not afraid to use creative interventions to fix my mistake. You make mistakes too, and I will keep it in mind as much as possible when adjudicating. However I must draw a line somewhere, and so as an example I may let you get away with using that throwing axe you forgot to go get after missing the orc shaman, since it may have been more obvious that your character would have done so, but I am not undoing your choice to flee blindly down an unexplored dungeon corridor and right into a gelatinous cube, when you could have just as easily gone back the way you know, surrendered or avoided the situation that caused your hasty flight into the unknown. If I force you into a situation there is a way to get to the next story point, if you put yourself into a situation that my not be the case. In my games combat is unavoidable, however I portray my world, to the best of my ability, as a living and engaging environment. You will encounter things you better run from. When you find yourself outmatched while in combat, and can withdraw you better do so. If you engaged by superior foes who would capture, arrest, or enslave you, and you fight to the death that is the choice you as a player must live with, even as your character dies and we discuss your next. You will encounter things that you can avoid, and if so think carefully about your decision to engage. It may seem like something easy, and may even be, but not everything is what it seems, and depleting resources can be dangerous when you need them later. Also, most magical healing is not instantaneous in my games, but instead transforms hit point damage into subdual damage to be healed normally. Resurrections, Miracles, and Wishes, for the most part, are unavailable to characters. So do be careful out there, adventuring is dangerous. If we play my campaign world, (my preference) and not just some random or store bought setting, then some classes, for thematic purposes are different. Some examples: Sorcerers are elementally themed and spell lists are based on this, and called Elementalists or Elemental Mages. There are enclaves of Sorcery wielding Monks who like to claim leadership of the elemental sorcerers, but most have no affiliation with such monasteries. Most wizards belong to a unique academy that replaces the bonus feats with special class features, and is called the Academy Mage. A by-the-book wizard is considered a Hedge Wizard and looked down upon. A by-the-book sorcerer is of dragon blood, called Dragon Descendant, and most on a path to become Dragon Disciples, or even full dragons. Clerics are more like Knights than Priests and thus lose much of their healing spell capability. Healers, fill much of the normal cleric's healing niche, with a few others having some minor ability to heal. Priests (the npc ones that hang out at temples and such) tend to be adepts, aristocrats, bards, or experts, but rarely ever a cleric. Favored Souls are the descendants of entities of power, they are not chosen to receive power but inherit it, much as a sorcerer. Warlock's must choose a heritage feat, (Celestial, Fey, or Infernal) at first level and some fluff and features are based on this decision. I liked the first edition book titled Unearthed Arcana, and so too the newer 3.5 book of the same name. There are some rules use regularly, like bloodlines, and some on a campaign by campaign basis, like gestalt and armor as DR. We will talk more as a potential game begins to manifest. I am looking forward to meeting new people, running my campaign and playing in others. If you are interested in what I have to offer as a DM or would like another experienced player for yours, please send me a message. Introduce yourself, let me know what you would like to play in my game, and your character goals, or let me know what you have a need of in yours, and let's roll some dice and see what happens. -Mike
