D&D 5e - Classic Adventure - Interest Check

[tobisquestion]

The campaign I've written is set in an original (yet familiar in all the classic fantasy ways) world with all the regular D&D races and classes, plus any expansions you want to suggest. It sees a nation recovering from war and facing up to a renewed threat from a trio of necromancers from centuries past.

Character Builds and Submissions

What I want more than anything is for everyone to have a character they're going to enjoy playing. Therefore I'm happy for people to build their characters using dice roll or point-buy systems. It would be good to get a heads up from everyone as to what type of character you'd like to create so that we can make sure we end up with a reasonably well-rounded group and not four healers and a tank. (Or I dunno...maybe that arrangement works?)

Players are encouraged to use the points-buy system or a standard spread for the ability stats, but if you want to roll and trust it to luck, that's up to you!

If you want to submit a character, PM me. I won't ask you to have a fully rolled-up character right away, although you can if you want. I just really want to know race, class, background, weapons, what you intend to specialise in and a little bit of back story if you would be so kind.

All backstories will be read, considered and worked into the plot somehow!

Characters submitted so far:

Name	Race	Class	Background	Top abilities	Primary Weapon	Player
----------------------------	---------------------	-------------	----------------------------	-------------------	--------------------------	---------------
Mirish Penumbra	Half-orc	Monk	Guild Artisan (Brewer)	Dex/Con	Spear	Ampere
Nuala Oakstaff	Wood Elf	Druid	Acolyte/Hermit	Dex/Wis	Scimitar	Chulanowa
Torner	Human	Barbarian	Revenant	Str/Con	Greatsword	Cold Heritage
Rag Stoutbrew	Human Variant	Fighter	Guild Artisan (Tanner)	Dex/Con	Longbow	Brittlby
Therion	Half-elf	Warlock (Hexblade)	Urchin	Dex/Cha	Pact Weapon	Snake
Leigh MacLochlain	Human	Cleric (Tempest)	Sailor	Str/Wis	Warhammer	Cula

Starting Level

We'll go with a player consensus on what level to start with. I personally would be happy starting at level 1, but equally happy starting at level 5 which is where I think characters start to actually represent their class properly. My preference would be no higher than that - I don't want to have to start calling in demons and dragons to give you a challenge right away! But we'll see what everyone wants to do.

UPDATE: It's looking like most people have an appetite for starting at level 5.

Posting Rate
Whatever works, basically! Let's try to get into a natural flow, but I'm going to discourage 'daily' posts in the long term because there will undoubtedly be a few people who fall behind. That said, nothing kills an RP like a languishing pace so if we have four players who are champing at the bit to post every day and one player who can only do once a week, I don't want to hold the four back. More likely we'll settle on something in between.

Source Materials
I'm by no means a D&D veteran and there's probably source materials out there I'm not even aware of. I use a phone app for spells and character generations, and it seems to include most official sources like "Xanathar's Guide to Everything" and "Elemental Evil".

Pantheon
If your characters has a religious class or background, feel free to select from any pantheon. I will then, from that, work out what gods are worshipped in the locations you're going to be visiting, based on whether your characters are 'from' the place or abroad.

Tone and Content
I want this story to unfold organically so I'm not going to say anything is or isn't allow. Frankly, I put all my stories in the NC section because it covers most eventualities and it's not like we'll get told off if no NC actually happens (and I'm not expecting it to). There will be combat and high fantasy adventure, there will be light and dark but it will largely be player driven. Nobody will be told to sanitise their posts. You hit a squishy goblin with a battle-maul, there's going to be fore.

Regarding sex: This isn't intended to be a sexual RP but, like I said, I'm not limiting character interactions. If it kicks off between the sheets, I may either ask the players to put their posts in spoiler boxes or on a separate thread, but probably not even that.

House Rules:
I will probably add to this as we go, but the only one I'm putting here for sure it 'No Rules Lawyers'. I'm open to feedback, but if I get something wrong and everyone had fun, I see no problem. If you think your character was seriously disadvantaged because of a mistake I made, PM me. For me, narrative and imagination are the real ruleset behind D&D.

The World

Click the maps to expand.

The world is divided up into four 'culture' zones:
Yellow - Hanosti (like ancient Greece)
Light Green - Wivensi (familiar Western)
Brown - Juanpa (Nordic)
Dark Green - Zalamic (Middle-eastern)

Any race can come from any nation or culture. If you want your character to be from somewhere else, fine! Just write it into your backstory. If you want to be from one of these countries, just make up a town or city name and I will add it to the map. (I have the full world map in vector so there will be more detailed zooms as we go along.)



Our story will be starting in the port city of Tollmouth, in Wivensbrent. Tollmouth is a port town on the estuary of the river Toll, which grew out from an older town called Alresbay. It is a diverse market hub with many races and languages. It has a temple, a market and many other things. About ten years ago it was pivotal in repelling attacks from a large pirate force from the south.

There used to be a halfling village half a mile out of Tollmouth, but during the pirate war they were all either wiped out or taken captive. That village has sat abandoned for almost a decade. The pirates are thought to be long gone, but a garrison is kept just to be safe and ships are generally advised to come and go only by day.

The main Tavern is called "The Whiskered Squid". Its a pretty lawful place...then again, it is a port and you do get the usual trouble that comes with a high population density.



Tollensport Key:

1) A popular tavern called "The Whiskered Squid", which is on the edge of the marketplace. An obvious place to start if you didn't have anything else in mind!

2) The Temple of Calm, across the river from the market, which is dedicated to a plethora of gods.

3) The North Docks, which also double as a seafront market selling exotic wares from across the water.

4) The Governor's manor in the "Administration" district, although he's not in the habit of receiving visitors

5) The "gate" districts are regular living quarters. Generally speaking, the closer to the wall you go, the more squalid conditions become. A good place to lay low and observe.

6) The stables - horses for sale and hire, a good place for gossip about people coming and going by land

7) The South Docks, outside of the city walls. More functional than the North Docks. Home to the Wivensbrent navy quartermaster. Some military ships are moored here.

8) Every type of craftsmen you can imagine has a shop in Tollmouth. There is not, however, much in the way of magic. The closest thing is "Mediocrates' Emporium of the Arcane.

9) Aemogen's farm - Livestock and milk

10) Reford's Farm - The small brown complex in the very north-east of the map. Most agriculture and grain.

11) Merchanthouse - Next to the market, the Merchant Maestor is in charge of the import and export of large quantities of goods. Here's the place to go to organise large-scale transactions or get a sense of what's on the market.

12) Market Plaza - Fresh produce and everyday items

13) Wivensi Library - pretty famous as a depository for books, tomes and scrolls on the world's history and lore

[Phaia]

:)

I have been hoping for a decent 'classic' 5e story. Of course it does not mean my character won't be sultry. I do hope a point buy not the arranged attributes. I am not a fan of having sub par abilities [like an 8 in some dump stat].

Phaia

[Ampere]

Could be fun to try a standard adventure - please consider my flag of interest planted.

[SilkenVenom]

I could certainly get behind this. I'd love to see it be a high-level campaign (as in above level 15) so I could get the chance to play my original 5th ed character again. Also because low-level campaigns are so common it would be fun to do something different for a change.

[Chulanowa]

I am absolutely on board for a "Classic-feeling" D&D game.


...Maybe that's a little more "classic' than you're going for, but still!

I have a Wood Elf druid I've been keeping warm for a 5e Game. Though she leans a little more on the lighthearted side; how "serious' are you thinking? Also, in terms of level? I wouldn't much like going above 10, if even that high; I don't find a lot of appeal in wandering around looking for a tarresque to fight 

[tobisquestion]

Rather than answer everyone individually, I've updated the top post to hopefully answer all questions in one hit!

That's a good amount of initial interest. I hope nobody is put off by the fact that I haven't made this thread beautiful with pages of maps and lore and background. I'm an author in real life so I subscribe to the 'show don't tell' philosophy of writing, and a huge up-front information dump is a major literary no-no. That said, I will give plenty of background as we get close to starting the game. I have maps, dungeons, monsters, NPCs...even a soundtrack (because I eventually hope to run this campaign with a live group also) made up. There will be plenty to sink your teeth into.

Chulanowa, haha! Hey, if you wanna go full on legacy classic then that's fine with me! I want everyone to have a character they can be enthusiastic about. As for tone, I don't mind if it gets lighthearted at all! The only thing I want to be careful about is making sure we have a good variety of the characters. If we have five class-clowns, it could get just as tedious as if we have five "strong and silent" types.

[Cold Heritage]

I hope it's not too late to put in some interest! I'd like to play a classic adventure where our characters are out to acquire filthy lucre, save princes and princesses in distress, defeat orc chieftains, and kill evil wizards!

I'd have to look it up, but there's a subset of the barbarian that gets their rage from religious fervor. I made up a character along those lines before for a game that sadly never made it very far that I'd like to revisit. I'd probably lean a bit more towards the strong and silent archetype, but also with elements of a boisterous bruiser who cannot resist the siren song of adventure!

I'd prefer to be level 3 to 5-ish, so we get some of the stuff that'll make our characters distinct and have the stuff that makes classes a class. Also because I like having power. I'm not a char-op maester, though.

[tobisquestion]

You're certainly not too late. Your interest makes five potential players so if everyone who's posted here so far decides they're like to steam on in and make a character, that would probably make this the smoothest, most efficient D&D recruitment thread I've ever seen!

[RedPhoenix]

Potentially interested, if we use point buy or standard array. Rolling for stats in 5e just leads to imbalance between characters which isn't fun for me.

Some questions

- Expected rate of posting?
- How would you rate your intended feel of the game on a scale of Cinematic to Gritty?
- Same question but Heroic to Grimdark?
- What source materials are allowed?
- For religious types is there a pantheon you're using?
- What board would this go in? You said no planned smut so I'm also assuming no planned Non-Con or anything like that?
- Any house rules we should be aware of?

And I honestly like playing just about any type of 5e character, so if I would see what other people want and pick something that complements it if we get there. :)

[Snake]

A good,  old fashioned game would be great!

[Phaia]

Yea!! I can go with point buy and level 5 sounds great. I so want to get past the level 1 characters that always seem to crop up here.
As for a class. I am leaning toward a blade-singer Half elf from the 'Sword Coast Guide' or a Rogue. Either works for me!

Phaia

[Snake]

I'd like to try a half elf warlock/hexblade. I'd prefer to try a roll but point buy is probably more reliable

[greenknight]

Planting interest. And I'll go for broke and roll.

[Phaia]

Planting interest. And I'll go for broke and roll.

I will give that a Try as well. At least then it is my luck if I roll bad!!

At 2018-08-07 00:15:38, Phaia (uid: 3337) rolls: 4d6k3 Result: 12
At 2018-08-07 00:15:46, Phaia (uid: 3337) rolls: 4d6k3 Result: 18 
At 2018-08-07 00:15:54, Phaia (uid: 3337) rolls: 4d6k3 Result: 11
At 2018-08-07 00:15:58, Phaia (uid: 3337) rolls: 4d6k3 Result: 13
At 2018-08-07 00:16:02, Phaia (uid: 3337) rolls: 4d6k3 Result: 12
At 2018-08-07 00:16:08, Phaia (uid: 3337) rolls: 4d6k3 Result: 9

18,13,12,12,11,9  Not bad at all!!

Phaia

[Snake]

If I got that without the 18, I'd Re-roll the whole set of I could

[tobisquestion]

I've updated the opening post again, hopefully answering most of the new questions and finally demonstrating that I am capable of producing something pretty for you guys to look at.

[Phaia]

I think I am going to go for a rogue

Phaia

[greenknight]

Whats the character/reputation of Tollmouth? Anything goes, rough and tumble, police state, prudish theocracy, thieve's paradise, some combination of traits?

Also: 8, 18, 14, 9, 13, 13

At 2018-08-07 10:31:37, greenknight (uid: 46150) rolls: 4d6k3 Result: 8
At 2018-08-07 10:31:31, greenknight (uid: 46150) rolls: 4d6k3 Result: 18
At 2018-08-07 10:31:26, greenknight (uid: 46150) rolls: 4d6k3 Result: 14
At 2018-08-07 10:31:21, greenknight (uid: 46150) rolls: 4d6k3 Result: 9
At 2018-08-07 10:31:15, greenknight (uid: 46150) rolls: 4d6k3 Result: 13
At 2018-08-07 10:31:07, greenknight (uid: 46150) rolls: 4d6k3 Result: 13

[tobisquestion]

I'll reply to that properly later, but here's a quick summary while I'm on my phone so as not to keep you hanging :

Tollmouth is a port town on the estuary of the river Toll, which grew out from an older town called Alresbay. It is a diverse market hub with many races and languages. It has a temple, a market and many other things. About ten year ago it was pivotal in repelling attacks from a large pirate force from the south. The pirates are thought to be long gone, but a garrison is kept just to be safe and ships are generally advised to come and go only by day . The main Tavern is called "The Whiskered Squid". Its a pretty lawful place... Then again, it is a port and you do get the usual trouble that comes with a high population density.

[Snake]

Can we get a standing 18 for a stat since fow people have rolled them so far? Hehe

[greenknight]

Can we get a standing 18 for a stat since fow people have rolled them so far? Hehe

Only if you'll take 16 points to buy the rest of your stats!

[Snake]

That's why I dislike point buy in comparison to rolled stats. But if that's how it is. it's how it is. Point buy is basically forcing you to eat lower stats for growth while rolled is like "yeah I'm actually good at this *primary focus*" \\

Anyway; rolled stats here:

At 2018-08-07 13:27:15, Snake (uid: 27981) rolls: 4d6k3 Result: 13
At 2018-08-07 13:27:07, Snake (uid: 27981) rolls: 4d6k3 Result: 17
At 2018-08-07 13:26:59, Snake (uid: 27981) rolls: 4d6k3 Result: 10
At 2018-08-07 13:26:50, Snake (uid: 27981) rolls: 4d6k3 Result: 11
At 2018-08-07 13:26:21, Snake (uid: 27981) rolls: 4d6k3 Result: 16
At 2018-08-07 13:25:54, Snake (uid: 27981) rolls: 4d6k3 Result: 13



I can't decide between male or female character; Half-elf; but they've got a background of Urchin and are from Tollmouth and at some point made a deal with a power from the shadowfell for warlock powers and went full blown hexblade.

[Phaia]

Wow Snake!! Nice set of rolls there. I'll trade ya. 

Phaia

[Ampere]

I don't trust my luck - so I'm just going to go with the standard spread for a half-orc, monk.

[Snake]

No. Bad Phaia *swats with rolled up newspaper, playfully*