The Desert of Desolation

A call goes out across the land....
"Hail good people. I seek those that are brave and stout to help me recover items lost to the sands of time. I, Aman Al-Raqib, astrologer and historian of Bralizzar, have recovered information on the existence of 5 incredible gems. I am offering a reward of 5000 gp per gem recovered. If you are one to seek wealth, glory and fulfilment, I request your audience in Bralizzar."
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d6gjpvxlk6u5k1g/ShiningLands.PNG?dl=0

(DM info)
H'lo, I am an older AD&D player from the 80's returning to RP gaming after a long break. I am just learning 5e rules but hope to provide a fun time by taking you on a journey through a campaign I am quite familiar with, The Desert of Desolation. I ask, if you have experienced this awesome adventure, that you seek another game, this is best experienced fresh, without prior knowledge of things to come. Later in this post, I will list some home rules that I will be incorporating as well, all subject to change(though minimally).

(World info)
This will be in Faerun for location/lore purposes. Admittedly, I am not well versed in the world setting as a whole, but this campaign will take you to the far reaches of an area not much explored by others.

(Character info)
This campaign is expected to take characters from 5th level (where you will start at) to around 10-11th level. Beyond that, we will see what happens. As stated, you will generate a 5th level character using official material for 5e. I have an ingame macro to generate your stats and will explain further if chosen to join us. Alignment must be good or neutral with good tendencies. I am looking for a group of players to work together, this will not be a pvp session.

For starting gear, I will allow you to choose 1 uncommon magic item (+1 weapon/ +1 armor will be considered uncommon for this purpose) from the 5e DMG, 3 magic potions, standard gear as you see fit and gold will be rolled as per your class * 5 (you can then distribute that wealth into whatever coin/gem combination for carrying purposes).

By asking to join, you are showing interest in the offer from Aman, you will be given the choice of how you want to travel to Bralizzar for your entry (Overland travel / Magically / accidentally).

The party already has 2 fighter types and I am looking to have 4 absolute minimum and 6 maximum players. The schedule is currently set to play on Sunday evenings, 6-9PM Eastern. Official start date will hopefully be October 30.

We will be using Teamspeak 3 for voice. It is free, very easy to setup and low bandwidth. Once you have been chosen to join us, you will be given the TS address.

I do not care how old you are as long as you are mature. I don't mind bad language but will not tolerate it being spewed every other word. If it gets bad, I will ask kindly to tone it down, if you can not, please seek another game.

I hope to provide a challenging and fun story for all of us, so, I will manipulate the rules as needed to keep the story flowing and fun. In other words, if something does not work quite as you expect, I have a reason for it. I am new to 5e, so there will be things I am not aware of. As you create your character, help me by discussing ruling concerns at the start. As mentioned, I have house rules that are posted below I am pretty set on. I know many may not like them, thats fine, then this game is not for you.

House rules for Shahdoh's 5e Campaign:

Criticals:
Standard dice damage + Max dice damage + mods

Critical fail:
DM determined to fit the flow of the game.

Encumbrance(values are in pounds):
Base Capacity (BC) = (10 + Str mod) * Strength
Encumbered = BC + 1
Heavy encumbrance = BC * 1.5 + 1
Push/drag/lift = BC * 2 (DC Strength check on anything over BC * 3)
Racial and class abilities that (RAW) double capacity instead increase the BC by 50% instead.
Example:
10 Strength can carry 10+0(no str bonus) * 10 = 100 lbs unencumbered
101-150 encumbered
151-200 heavy encumbered
lift up to 300
20 Strength can carry 10+5(str bonus) * 10 = 300 lbs unencumbered
301-450 encumbered
451-600 heavy encumbered
Lift up to 900
6 Strength can carry 10-2(str bonus) * 6 = 48 lbs unencumbered
49-72 encumbered
73-96 heavy encumbered
Lift up to 144

HP per level:
1st Character level = Max HP
Beyond 1st lvl choose either -
Static gain depending on HD (roughly 60%)
4 instead of d6
5 instead of d8
6 instead of d10
7 instead of d12
Roll the formula HD (min = 30%)
[[1d6r<1]] instead of d6
[[1d8r<1]] instead of d8
[[1d10r<2]] instead of d10
[[1d12r<3]] instead of d12

Short rest:
You can use up to 1/2 your total Hit Dice plus Con bonus to heal per short rest (round up).

Long rest:
You regain half your total Hit Dice plus Con bonus in healing (round up).

Firing into combat (Ally between you and target):
Cover comes into play. DM will determine amount of cover and apply the appropriate adjustment, size of ally vs size of target and line of sight considerations and set cover as either:
no cover = 0 mod
1/2 cover = +2 target AC
3/4 cover = +5 Target AC
If you miss the target due to cover that you would have hit without cover, you hit the cover instead. If the ally AC (minus dex) is:
4 higher than to hit rolled > the missile bounces off, no damage
2-3 higher > ally will take half damage
Less than 1 higher > Ally will take full damage
If to hit rolled is Less than target AC without cover, nothing was hit

** To be discussed - not likely, at least till later in this portion of the campaign **
Fighters (Extra attacks):
Instead of getting a 3rd and 4th extra attack (level 11 and 20 respectively) , their damage from an attack increases instead.
Instead of the 3rd attack, they get +1 to hit and roll a 2nd set of damage (all mods unless specified as once per turn Example: sneak attack) of 1 attack that hits in a turn.
In place of the 4th attack gain, they get additional +1 to hit and can roll an extra damage set as above on 2 different attacks in a turn OR can roll 2 sets of extra damage on a single hit in a turn.

(Final comments)
Yep, I know, got a bit long winded, if you are still here, congrats. If you are still looking to experience adventure in the Desert of Desolation, please reply in the Player Application thread.