New Adventurer Party
I have been thinking a while about trying out something that a former DM started the idea of a few years ago, but never actually ran. I've changed the idea slightly and ended up with what I'm going to present in this post, as a pilot project. If it turns out good, I'll run it more times (and I may have heard whispers of other DMs considering it!).
The general idea is to run a campaign with entirely new level 1 characters, going up to level 10 - 15 (depending on how the campaign goes) over perhaps 10 - 12 sessions. It will be moderate to heavy RP, where risk of permanent death is present, though I will likely count most mechanical deaths as knock-outs (but if the party or a member of the party chooses to poke the great wyrm dragon after it told you to quit, it might not be happy ending).
It's a party setting out on adventure for the first time and should be relatively harmonious and friendly (consider it a band of actual friends, for instance). I'm not too interested in moderating good vs evil party members squabbling over things. So in this pilot project, I'm going to ask for Good or good-leaning Neutral characters. I'll get more into that below. If this project goes well, however, I'll be happy to run a neutral to evil campaign next time!
Rules
- No twinking or muling. You'll be given starter gear and rewards suited for the character, including some unique things that I'll make in the toolset. The campaign will of course be balanced based on the items you have available.
- No leaving the nexus outside of sessions. The campaign start in an area outside of the Western Hearthlands and potentially lead towards the Baldur's Gate area.
- No resting unless specifically allowed to. Preferably not at all. I can force rest as DM in the cases where it is roleplayed appropriately. This should go for all DM events, not just this project.
- No RCRs. That means neither prior to nor during the campaign. The idea is to keep the party at even levels/experience and it's going to start at level 1.
The party starts out in the republic of Turmish, as a newly formed adventuring group (I expect you to come up with a really cheesy name for the party!).
Here's what the demography of Turmish is according to the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (note that this is from 1373, 19 years in the future, and thus after the Time of Troubles, so things at our current date may be slightly [although not likely drastically] different):
As stated above, the characters of this party should all be within good or good-leaning neutral alignments. This fits the campaign best, as the plot I have in mind is a bit of a goodies fighting evil style plot. The characters also have to be from Turmish or relatively close by, having spent most of their life in Turmish before now deciding to become an adventurer.
I'm looking to have the party consist of 4-6 characters in order to be managable. And to make that possible you have to send me a PM with some information (and DO NOT post it in this thread):
- Playtimes. I expect this in GMT. Use the forum clock to convert. This is perhaps the most important information I need, in order to set up a party that can get online at the same time.
- Character description. This includes a physical description and general personality traits, as well as a background. Please keep it short, though, as I am going to have to read it. Feel free to use the standard biography form, if you prefer that.
- Character statistics. Including alignment, starting class and starting stats, and languages. In most cases (especially with humans or planetouched), I will expect one of those languages to be Turmic or Chondathan (which is the language of the neighbouring lands).
I had originally intended to ask for specific archetypes, but I decided to instead offer those archetypes I came up with here as guidelines for what sort of characters may fit in or otherwise serve as inspiration for making a character. So here are some suggestions to get you started:
- A warrior with a strong sense of honour.
- A persuasive and diplomatic person with a bit of cunning, who can still put up a fight when the need arises.
- A learned, but modest scholar.
- A cautious and wise priest.
- A former thief or street thug, turned to use his skills for good and justice.
- A farmer or fisherman turned adventurer after farm or boat got destroyed somehow by goblins, orcs or other such monsters.
- A scout or tracker, discharged from military or militia duty for disobeying orders against his moral character.
