"It's a fool's game if you ask me. Anyone who plays it well enough maybe gets to be king for a few years before some trusted friend stabs him in the back, and it's only one in a hundred thousand that get to be even that lucky. Most die long before they get within sniffing distance of the throne. I've been living in the King's Keep for 40 years and I've outlasted 5 kings over that time just by minding my own business and keeping my venison stew recipe well guarded."
--Raef Coolingswart, royal chef
Things seem to have settled down a bit in Amaranthir. Aelfar Drygba, despite having claimed kingship nearly a decade ago has finally consolidated his base of power and appears to be ready to lead a unified Amaranthir forward into a golden age of prosperity. There's even been talk that the country will soon be strong enough to throw off the tributary yoke imposed on it by the Valkyrate, a once powerful but now crumbling neighboring Amaranthir to the south.
Today is an especially joyous occasion. It's King Aelfar's 40th birthday, and a large number of close friends, noblemen and knights have gathered at the great hall to feast and drink to their king's long life. Every one is seated and already full of good food and drink, eagerly awaiting for the king to make his appearance.
Your character would most likely be one of the noblemen. As such, they would be at least somewhat familiar with each other, but any stronger friendships are up to you, as would any pertinent background on how your character became one of the nobility, your actual title, and the nature of your dukedom/barony/etc.
Anyone may also feel free to find another reason for being present (a spy or particularly brazen thief may have been able to slip in, for instance, or a palace servant or nobleman's retainer).
Starting level: 1
5 Character slots available taken
Alternates:
1. Javagamer
Recruitment open until: depends on interest. If interest is high, I'll set a cut off and then select from submitted characters. If interest is low, we'll start once we get to 4 or 5. Closed for now. Players can still speak up if they want to be alternates in case of others dropping
Character Creation: Standard character creation using the latest D&D Next Playtest. Use either the standard ability array or roll for stats.
Dice rolling: Please use any website that can link rolls.
Game Style: Machiavellian intrigue. I want the players to be highly involved in the world building aspects. They should feel free to make up NPCs, places, objects etc. Characters are not near invincible heros of myth and legend, but a few of the many cogs in a great machine trying to acheive successes that will make them stand out from the system and be remembered for all time.
Well I could tell from the forums that activity here is in a bit of a lull, but I was hoping at least for something. Is everyone just pretty full on games already, or is there something I could change to get more interest?
Well I could tell from the forums that activity here is in a bit of a lull, but I was hoping at least for something. Is everyone just pretty full on games already, or is there something I could change to get more interest?
I was gonna sign up, but then saw it was DnD Next. Which is fine, but I'm new to the Wizards Community and play-by-post in general, and I thought that was too many new things at once and I'd probably just be a liability.
But if that isn't a problem, I can probably teach myself DnD Next and join.
-DESCRIPTION- Alignment: Lawful Good Race: Human Class: Fighter Gender: Male Eyes: Brown Hair: Brown Height: 6'3" Specialty: Survivor Background: Knight
-ATTRIBUTES- Speed: 25 feet Hit Dice: 1d10+3/1d10+3 Martial Dice: 1d6/1d6 Skill Dice: 1d4/1d4 Initative: 2 Vision: Normal Size: Medium
-LANGUAGES- Common
-ATTACKS- Longsword: 1d8 slashing (+5 to hit, +5 to damage) Lance: 1d12 piercing (+5 to hit, +5 to damage) Hand Crossbow: 1d6 piercing (+3 to hit, +2 to damage; disadvantaged if loading and attacking same turn; range 30/120)
-MANEUVERS- Protect
-CLASS FEATURES- Combat Expertise (can spend as many martial dice as needed on Maneuvers, or extra damage, or reducing damage to self) Fighting Style: Protector
-RACIAL TRAITS- +1 to abilities, except one which is +2.
I was gonna sign up, but then saw it was DnD Next. Which is fine, but I'm new to the Wizards Community and play-by-post in general, and I thought that was too many new things at once and I'd probably just be a liability.
The biggest liability to any game is for someone to think they're a liability. That's why many games don't get off the ground. Go, create a character if you want to play. Imagine the world through his/her eyes and play. You'll learn a lot along the way.
I would join this campaign, but waiting on another PbP to kickstart.
Well I could tell from the forums that activity here is in a bit of a lull, but I was hoping at least for something. Is everyone just pretty full on games already, or is there something I could change to get more interest?
Yeah, we've always had a "summer slowdown" over the years, but this year marks a drastic drought. I had thought business would pick up around October or so, but it continues to lag.
Some people don't like to juggle more than one or two games, and handling more is beyond their comfort zone. Another reason, however, might be because the game is D&D Next. I'm already involved in two D&DN games on these boards, and both are pretty enjoyable. However, from what I've noticed elsewhere, it seems like the constant changes between packets is a turn-off for a lot of people. The question of whether or not to adjust to the updates is something that gives people pause, and the fact that classes have appeared and been withdrawn limits options. Four races and five classes doesn't offer many players a lot with which to work, and most players in PBP are 4E players who by now have a plethora of options and choices when it comes to creating characters. Were this game 4E, I figure you might draw a few more people.
However, I do love political intrigue games, and I have no problem with D&D Next. So I will see about creating a character.
"I don't like X, they should remove it." "I like X, they should keep it." "They should replace X with Y." "Anybody that likes X is dumb. Y is better." "Why don't they include both X and Y." "Yeah, everybody can be happy then!" "But I don't like X, they should remove it." "X really needs to be replaced with Y." "But they can include both X and Y." "But I don't like X, they need to remove it." "Remove X, I don't like it."
Until you've had an in-law tell you your choice of game was stupid, and just Warcraft on paper, and dumbed down for dumber players who can't handle a real RPG, you haven't lived.
Lady and gentlemen.... I present to you the Edition War without Contrition, the War of the Web, the Mighty Match-up!
We're using standard edition war rules. No posts of substance. Do not read the other person's posts with comprehension. Make frequent comparison to video games, MMOs, and CCGs. Use the words "fallacy" and "straw man", incorrectly and often. Passive aggressiveness gets you extra points and asking misleading and inflammatory questions is mandatory. If you're getting tired, just declare victory and leave the thread. Wait for the buzzer... and....
One, two, three, four, I declare Edition War Five, six, seven eight, I use the web to
D&D should not return to the days of blindfolding the DM and players. No tips on encounter power? No mention of expected party roles? No true meaning of level due to different level charts or tiered classes? Please, let's not sacrifice clear, helpful rules guidelines in favour of catering to the delicate sensibilities of the few who have problems with the ascetics of anything other than what they are familiar with.
Just a quick note on the MMORPG as an insult comparison...
MMORPGs, raking in money by the dumptruck full. Many options, tons of fans across many audiences, massive resources allocated to development.
TTRPGs, dying product. Squeaking out an existence that relys on low cost. Fans fit primarily into a few small demographics. R&D budgets small, often rushed to market and patched after deployment.
You're not really making much of an argument when you compare something to a MMORPG and assume people think that means bad. Lets face it, they make the money, have the audience and the budget. We here on this board are fans of TTRPGs but lets not try to pretend none of us play MMORPGs.
Something like Tactical Shift is more magical than martial healing.
Telling someone to move over a few feet is magical now? :|
I weep for this generation.
Given the laziness and morbid obsesity amongst D&Ders, being able to convince someone to get on their feet, do some heavy exercise, and use their words to make them be healthier must seem magical.
I was gonna sign up, but then saw it was DnD Next. Which is fine, but I'm new to the Wizards Community and play-by-post in general, and I thought that was too many new things at once and I'd probably just be a liability.
But if that isn't a problem, I can probably teach myself DnD Next and join.
Please do. I'm new to DnD Next myself. In fact, one of the main reasons I'm trying to start this game is to famliiarize myself with it.
Well I could tell from the forums that activity here is in a bit of a lull, but I was hoping at least for something. Is everyone just pretty full on games already, or is there something I could change to get more interest?
Yeah, we've always had a "summer slowdown" over the years, but this year marks a drastic drought. I had thought business would pick up around October or so, but it continues to lag.
Some people don't like to juggle more than one or two games, and handling more is beyond their comfort zone. Another reason, however, might be because the game is D&D Next. I'm already involved in two D&DN games on these boards, and both are pretty enjoyable. However, from what I've noticed elsewhere, it seems like the constant changes between packets is a turn-off for a lot of people. The question of whether or not to adjust to the updates is something that gives people pause, and the fact that classes have appeared and been withdrawn limits options. Four races and five classes doesn't offer many players a lot with which to work, and most players in PBP are 4E players who by now have a plethora of options and choices when it comes to creating characters. Were this game 4E, I figure you might draw a few more people.
However, I do love political intrigue games, and I have no problem with D&D Next. So I will see about creating a character.
I was afraid of that with using DnD Next, but since the point was for me to have a chance to try it out, I'll stick with it for now. If anyone has ideas for playing a race not in the playtest, I could work with that, as well as possibly additional powers/feats/backgrounds to give some more variety.
That's three players so far potentially. LordManshoon, Snarguffle, and Catuse. We could probably start playing with one more.
If we do get a game going, I was thinking about setting up an Excoboard forum to play it on because I can access those forums from work but not the DnD forums. Any thoughts on that?
-DESCRIPTION- Alignment: Lawful Good Race: Human Class: Fighter Gender: Male Eyes: Brown Hair: Brown Height: 6'3" Specialty: Survivor Background: Knight
-ATTRIBUTES- Speed: 25 feet Hit Dice: 1d10+3/1d10+3 Martial Dice: 1d6/1d6 Skill Dice: 1d4/1d4 Initative: 2 Vision: Normal Size: Medium
-LANGUAGES- Common
-ATTACKS- Longsword: 1d8 slashing (+5 to hit, +5 to damage) Lance: 1d12 piercing (+5 to hit, +5 to damage) Hand Crossbow: 1d6 piercing (+3 to hit, +2 to damage; disadvantaged if loading and attacking same turn; range 30/120)
-MANEUVERS- Protect
-CLASS FEATURES- Combat Expertise (can spend as many martial dice as needed on Maneuvers, or extra damage, or reducing damage to self) Fighting Style: Protector
-RACIAL TRAITS- +1 to abilities, except one which is +2.
Ray of Frost Light Prestidigitation Shocking Grasp
Thunderwave Comprehend Languages Shield
--Equipment-- Robes Quarterstaff Spellbook Adventurer's Kit Candles(10) Tome (contains nature-related topics) Dolphin Whistle Ink Quill Paper (10 sheets)
--Coins-- GP 76 SP 16 CP 8 --Character Notes-- -Background- Warinor used to live on a quiet shire just outside Amaranthir. However, this shire was burned down when the king of that time refused to accept the terms proposed by the valkyrs in exchange for continued peace. He lost most of the people close to him, except his best friend, Senerol. Senerol and Warinor journeyed far away, finding themselves in the frozen wastes of Vyshan. They finally collapsed, about to die. Fortunately, A wizard, named Algaris, took them in, and nursed them back to health. The wizard then taught them the art of spellcraft, and the two boys became very good wizards. They moved back to amaranthir a few years later, and by that time, king Aelfar was now on the throne. Both received invitations to the king's birthday, and they eagerly accepted, hoping they might be able to make suggestions for battle plans... -Motives- Warinor is motivated mainly by the pursuit of knowledge. He seeks to learn the deepest, darkest secrets of the universe. He also has a burning desire to avenge his village.
-Personality- He is somewhat reserved, and usually does not start conversations, instead waiting for someone to speak to him. He is slow to trust, but to those who earn his trust he is fiercely loyal.
He is a little different from other halflings in that he pays little regard to tradition, and prefers colors of darker hues, particularly blues and greens. Warinor is adaptable and intelligent, able to think of many different responses to situations. he is usually calm, but becomes restless and fierce when faced by setbacks.
I would really prefer to use the Wizards forums. Why can't you access them from work?
I started thinking along the lines of a retainer of one of the other players... then moved on to brother of one's significant other... or similiar non direct blood related tie. Maybe even brother of the nobleman's brothers wife....
Looking to be related enough to have a strong connection but not a retainer that has to exactly follow orders... so need another player that doesn't mind that type of connection.
Not fussed about which forum is used if I get accepted.
Thinking Rogue.. but could also try a warrior if that's more useful to the party.
