Who: Me (DM), 2-3 Players (Cannon fodder), Entire Monster manual/VGtM/Reddit's Monster-a-day compendium What : Arena style combat with very little story, just fight stuff, figure out the gimmick to the fight and win. Get loot/exp. Rinse and repeat. Full rests and opportunity to buy/upgrade gear between arena fights (based on difficulty) When: Somewhere between 9am-5pm CST, Mon-Fri (this is my availability). If the group is up for it, I can DM 5 days a week. Actual play time will start around 30 minutes, but can range up to 5-6 hours if everyone is willing. Where: Roll20 and discord. Why: I have a series of puzzles and scenarios that I need some (mostly) willing participants to try out... also, I want to test out some new monsters and see how older monsters compliment the newer ones. Here's the premise: 2-3 Gladiators (players) will start at level 1 with starter gear. They will be facing off against an encounter, difficulty will be determined right then by a 1d5: Nearly Impossible : mechanics will be rough, but if the puzzle/gimmick is found/activated/completed, the fight will become 1 step easier (3 waves of enemies, short rests between) Enemy skill level: Metagaming Difficult : Possible to win by brute force, but most likely will die trying (two waves of enemies, short rest between) Enemy skill level: Brilliant Even : It's 50/50, better tactics or puzzle completion will win here (single fight) Enemy skill level: Average Easy : Press A repeatedly to win. (single fight) Enemy skill level: Lacking Simple : WHY ARE THE GOBLINS SHOOTING EACH OTHER (single fight) Enemy skill level: Potato After the encounter, players will gain xp/loot based on the CR of the monsters defeated. Rewards scale exponentially based on difficulty and will be distributed when the final surviving combatant chooses to exit the Arena. DISCLAIMER : Items, gear, and money are lost on death and magically poof away... unable to be looted by others. Death is permanent and Resurrection is not an option, unless another character chooses to cast it. Even then, your loot up to that point is gone. Hardcore mode, where I'm most likely gonna die? Why the hell would I want to do that? Simple: Test out new build combinations. Try out new ways to use spells. Test out items you couldn't normally have access to (all items will be available for purchase. ALL items. Prices and values will be listed on a handout in-game. Yes, the wondrous items are going to be stupid expensive.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Character Creation: All official rulebooks are accepted. No Homebrew. UA is discouraged due to volatility. Standard array: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 Adventure League races are accepted (and welcome) Character Continuity: If a character reaches a "landmark" level, you may choose retire them for bonuses towards the new character you intend to roll: Level 5: 1 item, up to 500g (retiring character must have the amount), and 1 "accolade" (accolade system will be explained below) Level 10: 2 items, up to 1000g, and 2 accolades. Level 15: 3 items, up to 2000g, and 4 accolades. Level 20: All items, no limit on gold, all accolades. Retired characters are "Dead" for all gameplay purposes, though they may be sitting in the coliseum cheering for the new character they are sponsoring. Accolade system: Essentially, it's a "You impressed me by doing something amazing/clever, here's a free feat of DM's choosing as a reward" Note: The feat will not be random, it will be tied to whatever you did. Potential for expanded play: If the players agree that they want a little more flavor in the game, I'm more than willing to create a tavern/shop and RP the interactions in between fights. This gives the opportunity to place bets on outcomes, perhaps convince a sponsor to throw some extra gold your way, pay a rogue to mess with the next fight in some way or give you some kind of insight towards the puzzle, etc. It seems like pure benefit, however the dice gods are fickle. Fumble that roll to haggle a shopkeeper down? Price goes up. Fumble that roll for a sponsor? Maybe they have their guard beat you up before the fight. Fumble the rogue conversation? Maybe he poisons your food or gives you bad intel and you set off the trap instead of disarming it. This expanded portion is optional. If the group chooses to skip the "flavor" , I don't mind at all. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've read this far and you're still interested, PM me with headline "hamster" and the following information: Character Name, Race, Class, Stat Distribution, and the character concept (why this, and why this way?) Your availability (remember I'm 9a-5p CST Mon-Fri) Your level of experience with 5e (no experience required, I just like to know in advance) How often you'd like to play (and for how long) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We will have a session 0 to iron out details and assist with character creation. If enough are interested, we can start as soon as Jan 18 (tomorrow, as of this post).
