Part One: Why I'm sad. I've got this homebrew world. I've worked on it for.... 20+ years now? I'm dying to try it, but it seems to be cursed. Every time I dive into it, I put in a mountain of work to overhaul a popular system to fit it. Months and months, with hours a day spent on it. This is my baby, and I'm very very meticulous about getting it right. The work pays off. People love it when i get it running, that is, until the curse effects it. You see, people change jobs, move, have family problems, etc. Im not saying that they should be blamed, but it always happens en masse, and it always happens right when the kid gloves start to come off and the real depth of the plot starts rolling. I'd have to be alex-jones level conspiracy theory to think its the game setting itself, because everone always says they love it, they're incredibly sad that it has to end. It started to happen again a few months ago, we had two leaves in one week... and while it could have probably been salvaged, I just left the group. I left the few who stuck around high and dry. I feel terrible, and I'm trying to contact them to express how bad I feel. I'm starting to throw my toys out of the pram when the curse comes back. There has to be a way to lift the curse and get my grim on. I am sad to see it end (AGAIN!!!!) to. I want to get it off the ground. Do you want some grimdark? Do you want to shake in your boots? Is the legend of sleepy hollow totally awesome? Then take my hand. Part two: Flavor post and LFG post The bastion in the Lydion mountains has been broken. The things which live in the blasted frozen hell to the north now wade through the spine of the continent, braying madly at the shimmering moon. They cry for blood to fill their goblets. They cry for manflesh to fill their bellies. The star of the three has faded, an ill omen to be certain. The men of the west call themselves enlightened men, but purchase men of the south as if they were commodities, and ship them across the seas to die in hells of labor made of sweat, blood, and iron, across the whispering sea. The men of the east call themselves heroes, but drive away those who do not share their blood. They drive them to camps where rumors tell they are prepared for slaughter in masses so great, they strain the heart to conceive. As myth fades, the beings of the world unseen strike out in their great thirst, hungry for the mind sof mortals to break so they may purchase another winter of existance. A time of endings has come. ________________________________________________________________________________ I want to run a grimdark fantasy game. I want magic to be on the mid-to low level. I want using magic to feel like a bargain with the devil. I want the cries of the faithful to go unanswered by an uncaring God. I want every shadow to frighten you. I want the blight of last autumn to wonder if you and your family will soon starve. *TL DR HERE* The succinct goal here is, system agnostic, to create a low-magic, grim fantasy/horror game set in a time period similliar to the 1780s. Think warhammer fantasy but with much more awesome looking coats and hats. :P **System?** I don't know. I'll be honest, I've been struggling with this. There are systems that seem to work great out of the box for it, but they aren't very popular. I want to game, not wait for the indie crowd to show up. some thoughts: **5e:** Would need some heavy overhauls. The ilghtweight heal and get back into the fight tempo just isn't going to cut it. This would need to be 5e extra hard mode. **Pathfinder:** This is a tricky one. Pathfinder is a great system whose strengths lie in players being whatever they want, so limiting it is kind of taboo. I'd need to have a "please try to capture the mood with your choices" rule, and have veto power over character builds and concepts. If you make a wizard, don't expect to find a scroll of fireball for your spellbook. Do expect to find a scroll of curse. **Zweihander** or **Warhammer Fantasy**: Im a virgin to this system, and it would be entirely new to me. We'd need to learn it together **The Burning Wheel:** I'd love to play this system, but its intimidating to many, including myself. **"hey what about x?"** Throw it at me. Let see if it sticks! **some history** i've been at bat for this project a few times. Its fallen apart. Its been quite succsessful at times, the seed isn't the problem. I keep running into scheduling issues where people bail because they cant make it or because we're not playing enough, whatever. To address this, I want to spend some time with prospective interests, really see if we click, and hammer out what they can dedicate to. I need people for the long haul. I dont know if my heart could bear it if yet again, we get past the expositoin and start to get into the nitty gritty, and people start moving or changing jobs. :P} Part three: The really sad part If It just poofs again, I'm going to have no choice anymore. It must suck. I'll throw away all the dreams i've had for a faraway land since I was a teenager. I'll go alex jones this time. They're all lyings. its a conspiracy. The facts don't fit what they are saying. I don't beleive this to be true. Please, help me make this happen. Help me make the game claw into your mind when you try to sleep hours after the session is over. Help me color your nightmares. Thanks, A halfling paladin.