This will start a new game in a new, self-created world. YOU (ie, the players) are one of a group that has grown up in the region of the Murn Dohlria city state, either in the frozen south, the arid deserts of the west, or one of the larger cities of Murn Dohlria - Tardur the capital, Gurdir which is west of Tardur at the edge of the desert region, Dholor to the north of Tardur and sitting on the shores of the coast and being the shipping/travel/fishing area, and Digluldur with is due east of Tadur and the region of farming/animal services/Military training. As a strong Plutarcatic state ruled over by representatives of the leading families of Murn Dohlria, the city state has had a period of great peace and prosperity, long may it reign. All of YOU (ie, the players) having came to the city of Murn Dohlria (either by choice or other methods, your character - your choice) to begin your training Murn Dohlria demands of all citizens. A strong citizenry makes for a strong Murn Dohlria! The training gave you a good general understanding of the known 17 nations in your world, all which lay across the seas either to the north or the northwest. Some benign, some to be avoided. You also learned more specifics of closely guarded secret of the most powerful, aged and successful members of society - The Time of Sedim, or the voyage to the NW nation of Tarloum, from whence, upon payment of the toll, you move on the the Source of All Knowledge and take your place with the Great Beings of Society. Back to reality, youngsters. Before you go there, you need to do something, so on to your training! Wide-eyed and excited, this is where YOU (ie, the players) decided what your 'trade' would be, and joined the appropriate Guild for your specific training. At the completion of your training, this is where you got together. You were placed together as part of a larger battalion and served your compensatory 40 moon enlistment in Murn Dohlria's Outward Expeditiery force. It was as interesting as any time was, for a small cog in a very large system. As relative youngsters learning your respective craft, you weren't invovled in any of the major negotiations, or the one large battle that occurred when the battalion got cought in the middle of a civil war in the city of Chicari, which has been an eternal squabbling cause, sitting in the valley between two large nations, Chestderry and Delmenheim, who don't like each other. While most of your military duties invovled being junior partners in set watches, the experience you gained in your craft, working with folks of higher rank in your said discipline, was immeasurable. At the end of your 40 moon, the Expeditiery Force returned and gave the report to the Ruling Council (the first time any of you got to see the Chambers of the Ruling Council!), your group was given your final training. You had one week to return to your respective Guild Hall, present your papers showing you know to be a full citizen of Murn Dohlria, and you were named a member of the guild. As such, you were provided the basic tools used in your craft (rogues get their own tools, mages their spell book, fighters their weapon of choice, etc.). Returning to final meeting with your Platoon leader for your official discharge, you receive your pay (we'll figure that out during character creation) less 10% tax for the state. You are also provided a small house to start with. There are many, many houses in the capital city alone, but this will do for now, as you aren't expected to be there long or much. More than likely, you'll spend a lot of time at the Gentle Moon Inn, which is very close by. Your house is in the far West area outside of Tardur's city walls, but it's a secure area with regular patrols. You live near a blacksmith, There's a mill close by, which is handy as the smell of baked good frequently overpowers the smells from the Chicken butcher/sales store down the street a bit. Another reason to visit the Gentle Moon - you don't smell any of that there, the food is good, lots of folks travel in and out, and the board outside is always filled with folks needing assistance. Welp that's enough for the interested. Looking for ? players - New players, experienced players, young, old, don't care. No knowlege of any particular system is needed. This is a Homebrewed world, I use homebrew rules. We'll hold a first meeting Sunday, Feb 5, to get any remaining characters rolled up, let everybody meet (since this is ROLEPLAYING) and make plans to set your course for your first session on Sunday, Feb 12. What do I mean Homebrew? Well, it's closest to D&D 5E, so if you have that player guide you are good to go. We live in the internet age - I'm pretty sure you can find any of the info needed online. I have it in my Roll 20 compendium, so if need be, I can provide anything needed there. Basic mechanics are the same, but here's were we move away into Homebrew land... 1) Rules Lawyers - 1st off, if you are a stickler to what X book says about X spell, respectfully don't apply. 2) player races - For this game, I want to stick to the old-school folks every town would likely be used to - those being Human, Elf, Dwarf, Half-Orc, halfling. 3) player roll - MUCH more open here - Where I don't care at all for most of the modern rules that require rolls for everything other than wiping your tush after a #2 (and there's probably a table for that somewhere too!), I do like the different rolls you can fill. I'm open to 98% of anything you can find or think up - the only place I draw the line is roles that give a rediculous bonus. There won't be any lack of options to advance (which will be much more organic here, more on that later). Let me know, and we'll discuss. 4) Advancement (since it was mentioned). I don't go with levels. As you do more, you get more respect. You find better treasures, your reputation gets you more specific training in your guild. Build slow and steady. I've dm'ed a game or 500 in my time (I've been running games since the mid-70's, best ones BEFORE the 1st DM Guide came out), I'll know when you are ready for more. More training, more money, it all goes hand in hand of gaining experience and growing in your world. 5) Starting HP - another big bug of mine. Much too low. Nothing more boring that a 1st session where you fight (a) 1 bandit, then (b) solve 1 riddle, then (c) fight a couple overmatched goblins, murder-hobo them to death and get a reward to hit 2nd level. Nope, not here. Game is a sandbox, not on rails. You can go/do anything you want in this big world - finances will limit you at first, so don't expect to travel too far too fast, but the choice is yours. Your choice might NOT be a 1st level adventure/encounter. Therefore, HP you start with are very different. Mage/druids use (3) D10, Rogues use (4) D10, Fighers (4) D12. 3 sets of rolls, pick the best of the 3 rolls for your starting HP. 6) Magic - BIGGEST homebrew aspect. Hate spell slots, always have. Hate 'you can memorize x number spells per level'. Nowhere in literature. What do we have in literature? Spellbooks, people misusing spellbooks (everyone from Mickey Mouse to Harry Potter), and wise wizards smoking pipes. That's what I go with a) Magicians leave the Mage guild with their sparkly new, basic edition spellbook. It has the spells you choose during player creation, as well as any of the cantrips you learned through massive repetition that can be used anytime, anywhere as long as they don't require a material component - if they do, you have to have that handy. It is highly possible the guild might put an extra spell in your book before sending you on your way. The way I do magic - Unless it has some sort of protection you can't break, I assume most teams will have somebody that can read/comprehend language. If you can read the spell, you can cast it - 1st level, 20th level, whatever. The limiting factor is much more organic that that stupid slot stuff. b) Mages are limited by the details (ah, the devil is always in the details). A spell USUALLY takes a (A) verbal component, (b) a somatic, or motion compnent, and (c) a material componant. You can bet a 20th level spell is gonna require something a little bit outside of your experience level, so not likely you'll be casting it anytime soon, but no reason you can't have it in your spellbook if you come across a copy. This is where low HP for a mage doesnt work. To cast a spell in combat, you have to (a) read it out of a book, (b) do the somatic movements and (c) use the material component. Mages will NOT be part of normal turn order during fights when a spell is announced. It is VERY, VERY recommended for a mage to employ a servant (no shortage of youngsters who want to get in good with the guild, and what better way to ingratiate oneself to a new Guild Member by assisting!) who will assist with holding the book. So Mages WILL need to be protected, at least until they can 'walk and chew gum at the same time' so to say, and take care of that themselves. Ah, but what about the pipe smoking? Well Gandalf smoked a lot of pipes.. he also didn't use a spellbook while fighting big baddies, did he? c) Memorizing spells - Elderly, battle-worn mages have them at their fingertips, you, not so much. Once you reach a certain level, the guild will feel you can be trusted with more knowledge. Once you have a few missions under your belt, we'll cross that bridge, but you won't have to have lackey's holding your spell book too long. Can't let you get too powerful too soon, and actually like keeping track of what is used for spells (had a game where I had to stick to my guns in a 5E game where the whole team was underwater fighting some fish people, and the mage wanted to cast a spell that used a flint stone to spark.. underwater.. being in said water with no watertight protection). Mages will need to keep stuff ready, and safe. For the time being, pick your cantrips well.. they will be much more useful than spells for awhile, but spells are usuable - just keep your flint stones dry! Well, can't think of anything more I need to mention. Feel free to ask any questions here, no ideal party size planned - have 2 folks already from my previous 'sometime in the future I'll get a game going', so looking for more. Fairly restricted to the major species, wide open on professions from any version, any 'fantasy roleplaying' game (no imperial stormtroopers please, I really don't want to roll critical fail everytime you attack). We can discuss it in the next couple weeks here, in PM's or email, and we'll get it all together the evening of Feb. 5 both here, and probably get a Discord channel going as well as, let's face it, a lot of folks have issues getting Roll 20 voices to work with different computer setups. Just respond here, Drop me a DM, whatever. Game is open for any all - NO disrespect of an players ethnicity, orientation or political view. Hate this needs to be said over 40 years since Dr. King gave his wonderful vision for the future, but the thing here is to have fun - I have my own political view, ethnicity and orientation. I keep that to myself as DM, and I would expect the players to do the same. We do this game to come together for fun. I've seen more game break up because of issues with PLAYERS, not CHARACTERS. If everyone is up for Roleplaying, feel free to join the game, this should be fun and expect it to run a long campaign.
