(1 spot open) "The world was not always so dark. I'm old enough now to recall a time when I could take our civilized roads from Roma to Iberia, from Gaul to Tunis, from Constinople to Britannia. Greed, ineptitude, & cowardice has poisoned the once great giant that was my beloved Empire. Weakened, our plentiful enemies have begun to circle and take bites from our rotting flesh; carving out from our bleeding form: Kingdoms, duchies, and squabling tribal territories. We hold onto Italia just barely still. Barbarians knock at our gates, the Eastern territories refusing our calls for aid, plague runs rampant in the North, and perhaps worst of all... The Praetorians, what are to be the loyal and fervant protectors of not only our Ceasar, but of the Empire as a whole have taken control of what remains; stealing wealth from the grand palaces, killing those that oppose their illegitmate will, and brush off any responsibility that our sick Empire demands. The Gods have abandoned us, I fear, with the acceptance of Christ into our Pantheon. Rome has faced countless foes before. Dozens of civil wars and plagues have come and passed. But this, this is different. I can feel it in my old bones. This is Armageddon." * Severitus Ponticus, 475AD * ===================== Hello, hello everyone - My name is Elstine & I'd like to invite you to join me in a brutal world, Earth. During a time in which it felt, specifically to the Romans, as if the Apocolypse was truly now. And, to the rest of Europe and beyond, finally a chance to build their own Kingdoms. This is a low fantasy setting with very few fantastical monsters, focusing mostly on culturally different Humans with different stats, tactics, and equipment accordingly. (IE, Roman tactics/gear vs Barbarian tactics/gear) Monsters and other races exist, but are extremely rare. (IE there might be -A- Minotaur) Civilized player races outside of Humans (Elves, Half-Races, Dwarves) are considered to have existed but are long extinct and viewed as an ancient civilization; think Elves are to Humans what Ancient Egyptians are to you and me. Magic, again, is rare, spells are typically seen as God(s) blessing or Satan's curse, or even scene through a scientifc lens such as a fireball being a molotov cocktail, or greek fire. This is a sandbox adventure with a focus on roleplay & politics; however those will not be the sole aspects. Conflict will typically have consiquences, even if the Players are not in the know. (IE, defeat a roman scouting party, a roman fort might get raided as no one was able to warn the fort of the upcoming barbarians.) This is a world of oppurtunity, struggle, and greed. An Empire of Prestige is on its last legs, and everyone wants the dope title of Emperor. Now that the bullying Romans are weak, everyone nearby is pushing in to carve out their own legacy, everyone wants something if not everything. This will be a generally mature setting, though I'm happy to have surely hilarious moments that typically come from D&D. Mud & blood, grimdark, etc is all the general aestic. You are not the inherent heroes, or Dragonborn. Your normal folks, (relatively) like the rest of the World. For character creation, you and I will be in VC doing your rolls and communicating about your character not only so I can have a good idea what you're going for, but also so we can make your character organically belong to the world to help build immersion for everyone. I am actively trying to avoid edge-lord and marysue style of characters; If you'd like to be the son of a demon lord with blood magic and dead parents, I appreciate your creativity, but we're aiming for a different aestic here. Think, zero to hero. ==================== 1. Game will take place on Thursdays, 7:45PM CST (potentially an hour earlier, depending on my own work schedule and what works for others, but 7:45PM is the safe bet.) 2. Adventure will begin at level 1. 3. Relatively grimdark setting with a focus on immersion. 4. Characters will be created relatively collectively for session 0, where bonds between chracters will also be established. It is up to you, thebplayers to decide on why y'all are working together. Are you from the same village? Same tribe? Used to serve in the Legion? Etc. 5. As a sandbox, the players will decide on what factions to aid, who to help, who to kill and so forth. I do not have it prefocused on helping the romans or barbarians, etc. Please, feel free to do as you will collectively. COLLECTIVELY. 6. I am not a big numbers guy, if you're here for a min/maxing game, this probably won't be for you. 7. I'm focused on story and fun, rules are secondary and are there as a backbone. 8. Metagaming is accepted, relatively - communicate during combat, work out a plan, execute accordingly. Tactics are fun! 9. Don't be a dick, to me, or the players. If you have an issue, please bring it up after the session, to me privately. 10. Discord &/Or Roll20 will be used for the VC. 11. Heavy encouragement to get into your class. While we start as zeroes, over time you will become known as THE Warlock, or THE Wizard. 12. After your application, we will schedule some time to sit down and chat in VC to get a feel for one another, answer questions, and talk campaign/characters. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the corresponding forum, or PM me. If you're interested, please use the link or the corresponding forum to apply. <a href="https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/287448/war-pestilence-and-politics" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/287448/war-pestilence-and-politics</a>
