Palace of the Silver Princess: An introduction to 5E

Years ago the valley was green, and animals ran free through golden fields of grain. The princess Argenta ruled over this peaceful land and the people were secure and happy. Then one day a warrior riding a red dragon appeared in the skies over the princess' castle and almost overnight the tiny kingdom fell into ruin. Now only ruins and rumors remain, and what legends there are tell of a fabulous ruby still buried somewhere within the Palace of the Silver Princess.

The capital, Gulluvia is positioned in the center of the barony of the Princep of Glantri. To the South, the pine-covered Thunder Mountains loom, the peaks obscured by thick storm clouds that often erupt into violent thunder storms. The lands to the East and Southeast are covered by the forbidding Abaddon Woods, through which a logging road leads to the village of Velders which is often raided by orcs, kobolds and other vile creatures. To the West is the shire of Dead Mule; once peaceful, it is now occupied by Gulluvian soldiers, although no one knows why. To the Northwest are the peacful hamlets of N'Sau and Thorald. North of the capital lies the Moorfowl Mountains, an ugly range forming a protective shield that keeps the ominous fog from the Misty Swamp from spreading to the lowlands. The Misty Swamp lies Northeast; no one knows exactly what lies behind the veil of ever-present mist hovering over this mire, but sometimes in the dead of winter fierce thunderstorms can be heard near the swamp, although no lightning is ever seen. Our heroes have gathered at the Strident Hag Inn to enjoy a pint and listen as the bard sings and the old-timers ruminate about the latest gossip and the "good ole days"...

This is my first attempt at DMing on roll20 (so bear with me!) I am mostly looking for players with solid role-play experience who aren't necessarily familiar with 5th edition, although new players are welcome. We will be using the core rule books (exclusively) and multi-classing is limited and subject to DM approval. All characters start at level 1 and we will be starting in the capital city of Gulluvia within the barony of the Princep of Glantri. All major (PHB) races and classes are represented in this area (although half-orcs and tieflings may face social difficulties) but other races are virtually unheard of or reviled (meaning if it ain't in the PHB, don't ask!). I expect the party to progress beyond the narrow confines of this troubled region (although there is plenty to do here) and we will explore the world beyond together. The emphasis of this campaign will be on role-playing and troubleshooting. This is not a campaign for character optimizers. This is not a campaign for rules-lawyers. This is a role-playing campaign. Bonus experience will be awarded to the player or players who role-play their socks off or find creative ways to solve the party's problems. (This does NOT mean stealing everything not nailed down because you're a rogue or bashing everything in sight because you're a fighter. This DOES mean finding creative ways to avoid fights, using all of your skills and abilities to the utmost, or convincing me you know your character inside and out.)
Character creation will be either the 4d6 method (rolled in-game so I can verify the results) or the standard set: 15 14 13 12 10 8 (player's choice).

We will be using Skype voice chat for sessions and chatter between games. If you are invited I will ask for your username to add you to the chat. Please ensure your hardware and software is in good working order. I plan to post a recap/after-action report on the forum after every session, please post a reply on either the forum or the Skype chat. If I haven't heard from you by Thursday following a session I will assume you aren't interested in playing and will begin looking for a replacement (unless you have made prior arrangements with me).

Please respond to the Application thread with your request to join.

Edit: I have removed players due to 3 no-shows and will be looking for new players this week. Current player characters: Human Cleric, Half-elf Warlock, Human Paladin, Halfling Monk and NPC Halfling Sorceress. Current start time is possibly subject to change. Up to this point, the party has been slowly crawling through the Palace, discovering many traps, fending off hoards of undead and plant creatures, finally discovering an enormous ruby that may or may not be the fabled Our Lady's Heart, and generally trying to avoid getting Thunderwaved to death by the "helpful" Halfling...