Idrithan, the Shattered Valley

General World Information

The Realm of Idrithan is a strange and hostile one.
Many of its inhabitants don't know how they ended up there, and many ceased to care at some point.
The land is plagued by the curse of the Darksign, branding many of its inhabitants as Undead who are unable to die but gradually become hollow, insane or both.

Some people might have their theories about what this place is, or what should be done. Some might just see this land as a big playground to live out their often macabre desires. And some might simply give up.
In the end, nobody knows if you are going to end up as the hero who bested the many dangers of the Shattered Valley, or if you are just going to end up as a shadow of your former self.

About the Game

The Campaigns Tone and Setting are very much inspired by the Souls-Series. (Dark Souls, Demon Souls)
For everyone familiar with these kinds of games it should be pretty obvious what I'm aiming for, but basically this means:

• First and Foremost: Observation is key. Awareness of your surroundings and the NPCs is of utmost importance. Not only are there many traps and ambushes to be avoided, but the story won't tell itself either. So be alert as a player, even if your character isn't the brightest.
• Death is not permanent, but is still punishing. If you die, you will revive at a safe place after a while. But you will lose all the experience points you have gathered since your last rest (or "level up-session"). You can't lose any levels you've already gained, but you will turn more hollow with subsequent deaths, which can cause sanity issues for your character.

Though there are also some important differences to the Souls-Games:

• I do NOT intend to use the mechanic of summoning phantoms, or invading others as a phantom. Although I might do some exceptions further down the road.
• The Plot will NOT revolve around you linking the first flame like in the games, and the fire itself won't be as central to the plot. It's more about the deveolpment of your character, the NPCs and the things you decide to set out to do. This is a tabletop after all, and nailing ourselves down to one main plot goal would just not use the potential of the format. Which doesn't mean that your character can't have the motivation to link the flame, of course.
• Diverse Player Races are allowed and welcome. You don't necessarily have to be human as long as it's within reason. And by that I mean if you want to play a Lizard-man, that's fine. But a sparkly humanoid Unicorn Fairy would just not fit the setting at all. You get the Idea.

About the GM

My name is Artur Keksel, I'm 22 years old, and I live in Germany. I've run quite a few campaigns on Roll20, but exclusively with my friends.
This is the first time that I do an open Campaign like this, and also the first time of me actually not using my native language as a GM. So please bear with me if I happen to make any mistakes, I will always try to listen to my players for improvement.

My experience with Souls-Games is certainly not the greatest, but it is above average I'd say. I've played all Dark Souls parts (1-3), though I didn't buy the DLC for Dark Souls 2. I only played a little bit of Demons Souls and next to no Bloodborne (though I am familiar with the setting and its influence in Souls Games).
But I am quite familiar with the lore, and depth of Dark Souls. I may not know every nook and cranny of every bit of information there is out there, since there is a lot, but I certainly didn't play these games for their gameplay only. And I've spent quite some time on youtube, watching theories and lore videos.

I will create my own Art for Characters and locations, including the player Characters if they wish. There will be exceptions to this of course, especially regarding monsters and pictures of locations.

What to include in your Application

Required Answers:

• Your Name/Nickname (whatever you prefer to be called)
• Your Age
• What Character you'll want to play

The character doesn't have to be polished. It's enough if you only give me a keyphrase like "Brave Warrior", and we can work on your character from there. I'll gladly help with it.
This is only to prevent the adventuring party from getting to monotonous. If your character happens to be too similar to another, we can surely talk about it, so don't be afraid of picking something "cliché". This isn't a creativity contest, it's for fun after all.

Optional additional Info:

• Your experience with Roleplaying in general
• Your experience with Tabletop-RPGs
• Your experience with Souls-Games