Little Drow Lost (NC Ex seeking DM; system, F PC)

[Anathanasia]

April 19, 2011 -- New GM found, thanks for the interest!
April 13, 2011 -- GM has disappeared, looking for a new one. Scroll down to see the Pathfinder sheet made for that false start,

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Her life was not all that remarkable for a drow, not up to this point, at any rate. Daughter of a merchant family that backed the wrong House, Zarra was orphaned at a young age, but saved, taken in by the thieves and assassins of the Velkyn Rah guild and raised learning their arts of stealth and deceit.

Not even quite an adult by the standards of her people, nor a graduate by the standards of her former guild, Zarra found herself once more without a family or support when the Velkyn Rah was eradicated by the clergy of Lolth as a precaution against the power the guild had managed to amass. Without other options, the young drow thief managed to escape her home city, managing to just remember the route her family would take to trade on the surface.

Lost, alone, with all possible support gone, she has to make her own way now, in this strange world of the surface.

Notes:
   This is the idea that really got me wanting to get back to role-playing here at Elliquiy.
   I'm looking for someone to DM this as a solo campaign for me, a proper system game, pen and paper style adventures of a young drow thief in a strange land. The actual system is open for discussion, though my lean is on Pathfinder but using the last 3.5 WotC drow rules.
   It's about exactly what I said just above, so we'd start low, as she's young, probably about the equivalent of a teenager but in elven years. So we could start at just level 1, but as high as 3 in order to ensure my PC has a few hit points might not be a bad idea (or steal the HP system from 4e).
   A good deal of the game is meant to be about exploration and discovery, which should generally lead to my character getting herself into more trouble than she can handle. Of course, the penalty wouldn't be death, just rape and sexual abuse. As always, if the game goes there, having her thrown into slavery (of a sexual nature) would certainly be fun too!

The World:
   As with the system, I'm pretty open on the actual world, as well, with one major stipulation: dark and gritty. I'd like things to feel more like the Warhammer Fantasy world than the more typical, shinier and happier D&D settings. Bleak, fantasy horror sorts of things.
   Since it's all about discovery for my character, it'd be just fine to use an original setting made up by the DM more or less as we go along, or we could even set things in the Forgotten Realms, just the nastier bits like Mulmaster or Westgate, though even then probably rubbed with a little grave ash and sprinkled with demon...fluids...you get the picture, I'm sure. ;)
   I left out any mention of her home cities name until we have a setting. This way we could use a 'famous' one if we wanted to, but it's also most likely not going to matter in the game, unless you as DM decide you want it to, but this is supposed to be all about a young drow wandering alone on the surface world.

Adventures:
   I do still want this to be a real game, however. I want adventures of the sort suitable for a solo thief – burglaries through tomb raiding - and failure should not always be predetermined. Stack the deck, sure, but allow a little luck and ingenuity to get me (and my PC) out of trouble, please! Makes things a lot more interesting that way, and don't worry too much, I plan to play a less than totally cautious character anyways.

On Mechanics:
   A special note on using whatever system we finally decide on: the DM makes all the rolls. This is my preferred method, as it cuts down on back and forth posts. This works well, since instead of calling for a saving throw and waiting for my reply before finally posting the results, you can just make the roll and go straight to posting the results. This also works nicely to hide rolls I shouldn't be aware are being made (the standout example being passive perception checks).

Zarra's Pathfinder sheet


Finally, please look at my signature for my Ideas and Cravings. If this one doesn't do anything for you, perhaps there's something in there that does! :-)

[Leodran]

Hi Anathanasia,

This looks like an interesting plot, and I would love to DM it for you.  I haven't done any system online here, but I do regularly DM sessions with a group of friends, so I'm more than familiar with world building, etc.  As for system, I've never used Pathfinder, so the choices are either to give me a bit of time to learn that system, or simply go with D&D 3.5, for which I already have a number of resources (Book of Vile Darkness anyone?).

As far as setting, I would go with a custom world, using the basic deities and rules of D&D and Forgotten Realms.  I prefer to not be bound by cannon, and since your drow is newly arrived at the surface, I have time to flesh out the larger world as she discovers it, and tailor it towards the adventure she's having.  As you asked for, the world will have more of a dark and gritty feel, at least from the perspective of your character.  Already, my mind is coming up with all manner of adventures and trouble she can find herself in.  Even at higher levels, the aforementioned BoVD seeds lots of good ideas.