Community

I'm currently working on a 4th edition home-brew campaign, and am  looking for anywhere from 4-6 people interested in a game that'll have a  good mix of roleplay and combat, significant player input into the  campaign, and plenty of stuff to do. Here's the lowdown:

Background:

The  village of Far Dale has always been a marginal part of the border  provinces in the nation of Delreth. Sheltered amongst the Anvil  mountains, it's remained insulated from Delreth's many civil wars,  invasions, plagues, and upheavals throughout the years with nary a  difference to the folk of Far Dale other than whose face was on the  coins.  That's about to change.

A mad empress has taken the  throne, commanding all to turn aside all other gods and worship him or  else perish to fuel her rise to godhood. Three self-styled monarchs and  countless minor demagogues have all raised armies to fight her, pitching  the entire realm into war and pushing hundreds of thousands from their  homes, to starve and die or else turn to banditry.

The orcs and  goblins of the north have united to take advantage of Delrethian  weakness, putting cities to the torch and instituting a brutal order  over the ruins. Those who don't flee or die are welcome to join the Iron  Horde, but it is a nasty brutish and short life to be held as chattel  by goblins and orcs made vengeful by past wrongs.

The people of  cities that have not been immediately struck down by one army or another  cluster together in fear, growing increasingly desperate and paranoid.  Many have fallen under the control of tyrannical warlords, while others  bargain with devils and worst creatures for some small assurance of  safety. The foul deeds done in such places blight the land, creating a  spreading corruption that seems unstoppable and twists everything it  touches.

It is in these grim times that Far Dale finds itself  needing guidance. The folk of the dale have always been self-sufficient  and resilient, but they will need more than that if it is to survive the  coming trials. Some few people from amongst them, members of all races  humble and great must rise up and become heroes. The fate of one of the  last bastions of uncorrupted civilization (and perhaps the nation of  Delreth) demands it.

Characters:

Characters will  start at 1st level, and must have some manner of connection to the  village of Far Dale (whether because they live there, live nearby, have  relatives there, or trade frequently with craftsmen there). While any  race or class is allowed, if you want to play an unusual race or class  you've got to come up with a reasonable justification for why your  character has been accepted into the village (or if they haven't been,  how they've managed to survive on the outskirts or in the wilderness).

I'd  also appreciate at least 1 page of back-story regarding your  character-the game is going to involve quite a bit of role-playing and  as such you'll need a character with a personality, a past, friends,  enemies, contacts, and family. At the bare minimum give me why your  character has the class that he/she does, a few sentences of  personality, and then two or three people that she or he knows in Far  Dale with a sentence of personality for each. I love player investment  into the campaign, and so if you want to do more that's awesome-ideally  everyone will create a few of the Town's NPCs, meaning that everyone  will have an opportunity to interact with the sorts of characters they  prefer. Likewise, feel free to include elements describing details of  Far Dale's history, government etc. I'll obviously have everything else  covered, but the more detail you guys provide the more plot hooks I'll  have that I know will interest everyone.

All mechanical options  are allowed, but once again you've got to provide some form of  justification as to how your character acquired them. In this vein,  re-fluffing is definitely accepted! On the other hand, if you can think  of something you really want to play but can't figure out how to do it  with the stuff currently in print I'd be happy to either help you out or  home brew something for you to use.

House Rules: I'll be  using the following House Rules in my game. All of them are either  player-initiated (meaning you decide when they come into play) or they  benefit everyone by keeping the math of the game stable.

Magic Can Be Corrupting: In these dangerous times, the temptation always exists for magic users  to draw upon unsavory sources of power. Calling upon savage and dark  primal spirits, ancient demons, or creatures beyond the stars,  practitioners of magic can enhance the power of their spells and rituals  dramatically-for a price.

Whenever a character uses an Arcane,  Divine, Primal, Shadow, or Psionic Power they may choose to become  corrupted to enhance it. Describe how your character is corrupting  themselves (calling out a demon's name, pledging service to the elder  gods, killing a small animal), and spend a minor action. You get one of  the following benefits with the next non-martial power you use:

A +3 bonus to the attack and damage roll.

Add 5 squares to the range

Add 1 to the area covered by a burst or blast

Sustain a power requiring a minor action to sustain without using a minor action for the rest of the encounter.

Double the duration of a ritual.

In  exchange, you suffer Corruption, handled like a disease. The effects of  the corruption depend on the source of the dark power you channeled,  but are all negative and will mark you as tainted by darkness. If you  continue to call upon dark power to enhance your spells while already  corrupted, it moves you further down the corruption track until you  transform into a hideous and utterly inhuman wretch (and become an NPC).  You may remove corruption using the Remove Affliction ritual, by making  Knowledge (Religion) checks, or by making Endurance Checks.

You can get Nasty Wounds: When you take damage you can choose to reduce it by taking a wound,  which is handled like a disease. You can reduce the damage taken by an  amount equal to your healing surge value to take a light wound (the  first stage), or reduce it by your bloodied value to take a moderate  wound (second stage). A character can only have a number of wounds equal  to their Constitution modifier (minimum 1). Wounds inflict penalties to  actions, and during the 2nd and 3rd stages, actually prohibit you from  taking certain actions (like using a sword with a heavily wounded arm)  but it's usually better than dying.

Wounds are treated just like diseases are: with the Remove Affliction ritual, with Endurance checks, or with Heal Checks.

Expertise Fix/Defense Fix Characters gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls at 5th, 15th, and 25th  level, and a +1 bonus to all Defenses at those levels as well. This  fixes the math of the game, and removes feat taxes.

Skill Challenges are in your hands too!:  If your character wants to try something interesting, unconventional,  and involved you can always ask to initiate a skill challenge. To do  this, let me know what you're trying to accomplish like "I want to  perform a confidence scam to get enough money to buy a +1 sword". I will  then let you know what your character thinks the price for failure  might be like "well your Rogue knows you might have to deal with the law  if this scam goes belly up".

That's pretty much it! Happy gaming, and I hope to hear from you soon!