Cerulean
Kingdoms: [Looking for a couple more players (as of 13th of October 2020)]
(DnD 5e:2d10)
Running (that is to say DMing) a game on Wednesdays ~20.30PM Central European [Summer (when appropriate :P)] Time. Lost some players before/after the first session. (Beware! This is probably a bad sign if I'm losing people before I even start DMing a session). So either way, looking for two or three more folk to join us! The campaign takes place in a home-brewed world, and will probably won't be super deep or serious, judging of the current group of players and DM. So what's the idea behind the game: - The idea is more that folk have fun playing (and I have fun DMing) than to build something super duper epic or super duper deep and serious. - Likewise the idea is to have fun playing rather than get stuck in hours longs debates about mechanics in the middle of a game. - Likewise the idea is to actually play as opposed to spending a long time coming up with very elaborate character concepts and then not using them. - I will be running a campaign and probably one shots when only part of the group is there. That's not to say that it'll be a light hearted comedy adventure (who knows how it'll go?). What I am trying to emphasise, that the aim is to rather have a friendly/casual table which plays regularly, the rest is a lower priority. If you're interested please post here or send me a PM with your discord (please don't post your discord in the actual thread. Information safety and all that). I would like to have a chat with people who want to play, to make sure that we'd get along at the gaming table, maybe even do a micro-oneshot. Keep in mind, the starting level of the game is quite low and I don't like familiarising myself with lots of UA stuff, so if you're looking for a high power, high level, game to test that super unique UA class, this probably isn't the game for you. I have no problem with optimising or a degree of minmaxing, but if given the choice, I'd rather use my time to think of things that make the game more colourful, rather than on using it read up about the latest homebrewed subclass of the latest homebrewed class. Here's the unimportant stuff I posted last time (have a read if you feel like it), but I feel that it is less relevant than the stuff above and having a chat: I am looking a few
people (at least 3, at most 5) who might be interested a series of games, or perhaps a
campaign. You see, I ran a campaign (so there's plenty of material prepared, if folk are worried about direction or lack thereof) in a homebrew world, and I really
enjoyed it. The game gradually ground to a halt. In short, it it's dead, or perhaps just sleeping.
It is my belief that when a game enters the long sleep, it is the fault of the DM for
not being good enough. So I would like to become a better DM (and
have fun while I’m at it). And what other way than by DMing another game?
As such, I am
looking for folk who would be interested in playing some 5e.
Obviously when making a “looking for players” post, one should
put what kind of game they’re running. The game world, the level of
play, the gaming style, and all kind of stuff, so all that “stuff”
is below.
What I consider to
be the most important, however, is that a group should be able to get
along and has a common interest at the table. So here are three
things
a) We can get along
each other and we can disagree about things in a civilised manner.
b) You like DnD!
c) Be it one shot
games or a long term campaign, they should run regularly (because I
would like to DM regularly). Real life comes first, of course, but
the game doesn’t come last. If it comes last, it enters a long sleep.
So, the meat: All
that I’m going to write here is going to be vague and fluffy, and I
make no apologies for writing thus.
Game world:
-Basically a
homebrew sandboxy kind of place. There are some "special rules" and peculiarities, but depending on whether folk think these "enhance" or "detract from" the game, I may or may not use them.
Geography:
Five “kingdoms” on a continent/world fragment. Originally it was
a fragment, because I am too small to make a whole world. I would be
a poor DM, however if there wasn’t an “in game” reason for it, so there is an in game reason for it.
Mostly land, some sea around the edges. Fairly standard geography,
nothing too exotic.
Politics &
History: Ages past notwithstanding, about four thousand years
ago, humanoids, having thrown away the worlds they came from, landed
on the shores of Cerulea. Eventually six kingdoms were formed. Some
made war on each other, some made peace. Time passed and borders
changed. Currently there are five kingdoms:
-The Sayese Empire:
An elven ruled land. General alignment. Mostly LG-ish.
-Kawaal: The
barbarian kingdom. General alignment: Non-good.
-The Republic:
Dwarven/Gnome lands General alignment: Lawful-ish.
-Rurunia: The land
ruled by monsters: General alignment: Mixed.
-Shiima: The place
ruled by non-good aligned fey: Neutral.
World level and
type: The setting is fantasy. Technological levels range from
dark ages to early industrial revolution. Magic is prevalent. Dragons
are rare (and generally powerful).
Level: This
depends on the point in time. The time I would like to run the game
in, most folk are level 1-2. Experienced individuals are generally
3-6. 6-12 is exceptional. 13+ is considered to have gone above and
beyond normal humanoid limits.
Eg.
A peasant, student
or a Rurunian guard may be lvl-1 or 2.
A highly experienced
artisan or a veteran hunter might be level 3-4.
A soldier from one
the Empire’s elite divisions, or a mage, or head priest in an
average town might be level 5-6.
An “arch-mage”,
general, or leader of a knightly order can be anywhere from level
7-15.
A monster? Your
guess is as good as mine.
Preferred PC
starting level: To be
discussed depending on how the game is run this time, but I’d like
to go between 2 and 5.
My DMing
style:
Philosophy:
We’re a group of people, all of who are trying to have fun at the
same “table”, playing a game. The DM is the arbiter of the
game/story ,
but that doesn’t really mean anything.
Game style: I
like a balance of roleplaying and combat, seriousness and silliness.
I like to think of it as a mixture of “Alice in Wonderland” and
“Lodoss” (if that isn't to pretentious). I prefer to have things like intrigue present, but in
the background (because I’m not good at it). I tend to make things
fairly difficult: “If a problem was easy to solve, in most cases it
would be solved before an adventuring party
got to the scene.” If you
do not use your initiative the world will still move around you, but
you will not move. Combat
ranges from “piece of cake” to “we shouldn’t have come
here...”, but will be generally on the side of tough but winnable,
depending on how things go. I
like to see what decisions players and their characters make. I
r eally like to see what
decisions you make and how that changes things.
Maps:
I do not make elaborate maps (usually) .
I’d
rather spend the
time
I
have
on other aspects of the game. I
am old fashioned. For combat a grid and
some lines will
suffice. For a dungeon, I will give descriptions and directions. Like
in the old days, the adventurer is to draw the map, based on what you
think you see.
Self-p erceived
Strength as a DM: I’d like
to think that combat will be run quite smoothly. I’d also like to
think that there will be enough flexibility to account for
interesting player decisions.
Self-p erceived
Weaknesses as a DM: I can’t
voice my way out of a paper box. My
NPCs aren’t super interesting. Pacing
outside of combat tends to be slow. Very,
very slow.. And yet I
really like to see roleplay in a game...
Red Lines to
cross and to not cross: I
don’t mind PvP, but it depends on the party. Foul language is
tolerable within limits. Discrimination
against “fantasy races” (eg goblins, drow) happens in some
places. Slaves exist in some kingdoms. People get eaten by monsters from time to time. If this is too dark, my DMing may be to dark for you. Sexual material is “fade to
black”. Torture of NPCs is fine by me (but I think that needless
descriptions are just that). Torture of PCs is something that I’d
like to avoid. Let’s keep rape-kun out of the game.
General house
rules: A few, I like to include bits of DnD 3.5 here and there. But I generally leave contentious rules choices to player vote, with the
precondition that everyone understands that most rules are a double
edged sword and they can't be changed once the party decides.
Min-maxing:
As an avid minmaxer when paying, I have nothing against people minmaxing. I even
accommodate for it. Just keep in mind that the “min” is going to
bite you in the ass. Also,
keep in mind that being
powerful will make some encounters easy. In other cases, your own
strength may attract strong foes and hence increase the risk of
other ,
weaker, PCs dying. So I will endeavour for intra-party balance.
My favourite
houserule: I’d like to use [2d12] instead of [1d20], because it
changes probability distributions in such a way that 5e stops being
“pure randomness” but doesn’t become “my bonus is so high
that there’s no point in rolling”.
So if you’ve
read all this and are still here:
So please post here
or send me a PM if you’re interested, and we’ll talk about it on
Discord, maybe do a couple of mini sessions, and figure out whether
we work well at the same table.
Putting things in terms of GMT
time zones, I’m generally happy to run 7-12PM GMT(or BST) on
weekdays, and (12-noon to 6PM GMT(BST)) on weekends. I will have two
weeks of unavailability in October, and at some point at the end of
winter, but otherwise I would like to run once or twice a week.
Whether it’ll be a “campaign” or a “series of one-shots”
will depend on the folk who answer the call.
