Hi all, I'll just hope you don't remember my last LFG post, it was a little polarizing. But I'm happy to say it was a great learning experience, and I not know what not to put in a post. Or a some things to not put in a post. So my current group has been sparse for the past few weeks, and I'm looking to find more players to help fill gaps in the time slots. Hopefully I can rope enough people in with promises of fun that we can get at least one solid group going, maybe even two! [Player Requirements] - Commitment to playing times. I understand that things can come up, but if they keep coming up, please talk to me about it so we can work something out. I get that this is just a game, but it's something I and my players look forward to doing, and if one person is causing that to not happen, it's unfair to the rest of the players that they lose the chance to play. - Being a good player. Note that I said good , not skilled. I don't care if you're good at minimaxing or knowing the rules, I only care that you are willing to play with others, and treat them as other players, not stepping stones for your own fun. Be a Travis Willingham. Know when you have the spotlight, but also know when other people have or want it. There are times to be the main character, but there are also times to be the supporting character. Maximize the group's fun, and minimize their, uh, un-...fun. - No real world politics. It's fine if you talk about that stuff outside of my games, but while I'm in the voice chat, please don't bring it up unless I do. Talking about in-game politics between factions or individuals is fine. Just keep it to in-game while I'm there, for my sake. - Have Discord. We literally cannot play if you do not have Discord, so it's sort of a necessity. These are the only requirements I have. If you can fulfill these, then there is a good chance you can join my game. If at any point after here you feel like you know if you want to join the group, then the back button is at the top left of your screen, or my contact info is at the bottom of the post. Finally, please be aware that I do aim for a specific game type and atmosphere. If I don't think you are right for the group, I will probably talk to you about it. We can try to work things out, but sometimes that's not possible, so please don't hold it against me if we find that the game isn't right for you. [Player Application Bonus Points] - You can tell me your favorite Black Isle CRPG and support your decision. Super extra bonus points if you can tell me the climax point of any of them. - You watch Critical Role and think it would be really amazing to have a game as story and character driven as theirs. - You can tell me about your previous acting/improv/performance experience, including things like band, public speaking, and plays/musicals. - You have previous D&D / DMing experience and can tell me about you favorite/least favorite moments. [Other Application Questions (feel free to answer or to not)] - Talk about one of your favorite shows/anime, and what you like about it. - Which member of Critical Role is the best good player? - Favorite video game RPG? [About my games and groups] The current group plays on Mondays at 1930 EDT, or ten hours and foury minute from the time of this post, on Mondays. It is a somewhat hardcore setting, focused on player interaction and exploration of a world that is bigger than you. I am willing to set up other groups as well, so even if that time does not work for you, still feel welcome to join the server and wait until we can set up a game that works for other people. The other groups may use different rule sets, so if you don't necessarily like something that I write below, it doesn't necessarily mean we will play by those rules. They're just things I'm currently trying, and I may just start up a normal group that uses normal rules. - I encourage randomly generated character creation. I won't say no to good ideas, but I do ask that you give it a chance. I take this idea from Matthew Colville, who explained it as a good way to help people leave behind preconceived notions of their "ideal character" that they like playing. I think it offers a good opportunity for people to explore the world by discovering their character along with it, instead of trying to force-fit their idea into a world that may not have the right shape for them. I will never force you to play a character you don't enjoy, but I think it's a good idea to at least start the base off with randomly, even if you fill in the rest by design. - I am currently trying out a new class system, or rather, a lack thereof. I don't know if I will use it for all my groups, but you can think of it as a more Skyrim-style advancement, where you get better at things by doing them, and then customize your abilities and style by seeking out opportunities to improve them. For example, if you attend a seminar hosted by the guild for basic sword training, you may get a permanent +1 bonus to AC and attack rolls while using 2-handed swords. Again, I don't know if I like it quite yet, so there may be a group that uses it. My current hardcore group does use this system. - The setting is one of my own creation. I am creating everything from scratch, from countries to quests to characters. Much of the content is borrowed in part from other IP, but very rarely is it a complete copy-paste. I usually use other sources as a jumping-off point, but then develop it to fit the world or what I think is cool. It's quite a lot of work, but I am enjoying creating a world with quests that are more realistic than what I normally see in other games. - Currently it is illegal to adventure without proper license to do so. This law was put in place to help increase the average lifespan of adventurers, and to help ascribe agency to adventurers who royally screw up and release evil into the world. This license can be acquired through various means, but primarily through the Adventurer's Guild, which is a network organization that spans the main continent and facilitates adventuring. This helps me organize characters, opportunities, and interactions in a way that would otherwise be more difficult. I'm no Matthew Mercer, so I can't yet just invent entire cities on the spot. - Most people are humans. Most farmers are halflings. There are no gnomes. Dwarves and Elves are rare but do exist. Most other races are extremely rare. Think Lord of the Rings. Most people are "racist" in the sense that they do not know or understand the culture of other races, and may not treat them as they should, not necessarily out of malicious intent, but out of simple ignorance. - The world is low-magic, but high-fantasy. Magic is rare, feared, and powerful, and those who can wield it, even more so. Most cities do not have magic shops, potions, or casters, and to find such establishments requires traveling and a great deal of money. In character creation, whether or not you have the chance to begin as a magic class is a very low random chance. This part of character creation is not optional. Even if you end up in a group that does use the standard class system, you can expect to not be able to use magic for at least the first few levels. That being said, there are still incredible creatures, fascinating inventions and mechanisms, and supernatural influences and occurrences. - The world is amazing, powerful, and bigger than you. One of the things I love to experience is a sense of wonder at how amazing the world is. Watching as a tarrasque lumbers across the mountains, looking for food or place to sleep. Feeling the impact of legendary warriors crossing blades, the shockwave rippling across your body . Looking on as a tremendous typhoon approaches the city, threatening to bring ruin to your home and city. The world is huge, and we are all small parts of it. As a DM, I aim to never offer any artificial protection from the world.It is offered as-is, and exists for itself, not for you, just as the real world is. There will be no "tailored encounters", and it will be up to you to survive in a harsh and powerful world. I won't be unreasonable, probably, but if you want to survive you will have to be smart about it. I hope by doing this I can offer you the chance to earn your wins rather than have them basically handed to you. There may not be a way to win every fight, and it is up to you to recognize those situations and to make decisions based on what you know. - Healing takes time. In the most recent encounter, all three players were knocked unconscious, and though they survived, it took a week of expensive care until they could be mobile again, and they risk re-injury if they are too active for another week. This usually won't have too much of an impact on games, it just means that you will have to spend extra money and time to be prepared for the next adventure. - I don't look at handbooks during sessions. I sometimes reference them as I am building encounters or other aspects of the campaign, but I will basically never stop the session to make sure I get a ruling right. If a decision needs to be made, I will make it based on my best judgement. For example, a roll to jump across a chasm might be something like "Please roll a d20, and add half of each your athletics and acrobatics bonus, rounding down." since it involves your ability to move and land in the air, as well as your raw jumping power. That's about it for now, if you have any questions or are interested in joining, please shoot me a message on Discord: Bard#3883 Thanks for reading, hope to hear from some of you soon! - Bard