One of my plans upon returning to DMing was to reboot something I did during my original tenure. Back then, as some of you (looking at you, Hoihe
) might remember, I ran a horror storyline based around personalized stories for each individual PC who signed up for it. The reason it was sign-up only was because of the nature of the campaign. It dealt with mature themes toeing the brink of what qualifies as PG-13, dealing in disturbing imagery, and generally being a little more "heavy" than what I would personally be comfortable just springing on random players. The nature of the horror I enjoy crafting is more existential, atmospheric and cerebral in nature than splatter / slasher stuff, with little to nothing in the way of combat or tangible rewards. Additionally, by signing up you were consenting to a direct understanding with me: you are free to leave the storyline at any time if it gets to be too much for you or for whatever other reason, but for the duration of your time participating in it I make it a condition that you agree to maintain any consequences that your PC accrues. Insanity being a common element at play in the usual Lovecraftian sense, this means that as your PC's sanity begins to erode, you maintain that insanity in your play - not only in my events, but in your regular interactions outside of it. I feel that is important to crafting the omnipresent and oppressive atmosphere critical to the story. So with all that said, here's round 2! The overarching story will be different, but many of the themes similar to last time, with a particular focus on exploring themes of despair, sickness, decay, fatigue, existential nihilism, insomnia, delirium, paranoia, and insanity, all tailored to your individual PC's personality and backstory. Again, because I want to be VERY clear about this going in: This storyline, if you choose to commit your PC to it, is going to have little to nothing in the way of tangible rewards beyond participation xp. No gold, treasure, monsters to kill or anything else. The real reward will be in the character-enriching RP, so what you're really signing your PC up for is a gauntlet of months of psychological torture with the possibility of (completely voluntary) permanent consequences. If that sounds up your alley, some additional info:
- Unlike the previous storyline, this one will be open to all characters, including those in the UD. The only exception to this, due to the nature of the storyline, will be paladins and anyone else with permanent, innate fear immunity.
- I plan to get started on this storyline immediately and conduct it in an ad-hoc manner, essentially springing it on you if I happen to catch you in game. This does not entitle you to DM events. Rather, in the vein of the PvP auto-consent thread, it is meant to signal your willingness to participate in this particular vein of RP.
- Just so you know, my regular hours are 22:00 - 07:00 GMT weekdays, 17:00 - 07:00 GMT weekends. If this is outside of your usual range of playtime, I would recommend against volunteering.
What I will need from you: Shoot me a PM expressing your interest along with your server login in the title line. DMs are bombarded with messages on a daily basis, so this will help me keep track. In the message body itself, please tell me which character (limit of one per player) you would like to sign up for the storyline, along with a character bio and any other details you'd like to include that you think might be relevant in helping me come to a fuller understanding of their psychology and general POV. Also, unlike last time, I would like to ask that you also include in your message any OOC phobias / triggers / whatever else that you have, anything that is off limits. I WILL NOT be incorporating these elements into your story. The intent behind this is for mutual enjoyment for fellow fans of cerebral / atmospheric / Lovecraftian horror, not a means of me getting my sadistic rocks off. It would be easier to know your limitations going in, but during the course of the events if we tread into areas where you're uncomfortable anyway, please don't hesitate to tell me and I promise we'll scale things back. Again, your enjoyment of the experience is completely the point of it all.
