[RPGeezer]

OK. This game has been running since last May. We had no dropouts at all until over the holidays, when we lost two people due to RL issues. A 3rd hasn't been on the Weave since 1/2/12, so we may have lost him as well, but since he has over 1000 posts, I've still got hope that he'll be back. In any case, we need reinforcements. We'll be taking at least two players, and possibly three. This particular advertisment will end on 1/20, with a decision upon which two or three characters to take being made immediately thereafter. It will not be extended, so as to avoid delaying the game. Get your apps on time if you want them considered. Here are the details:

What's the game?

It's an E6 version of D&D (3.5), with only minor adjustments. The scenario description given to the original players is given below, underneath the giant underlined boldfaced red letters.

Character Creation

Most sources will be OK, but nothing from Dragon, homebrew, or online information. If I can read it in one of my extensive list of real, actual books made of dead trees, I'll probably allow it. I'm not a big fan of piracy, so please don't send me links to pdf's of the book you want to use. I've got most of the relevant books, made of dead trees. The ones I don't have will probably be out, unless I think what you're doing is really cool.

You'll begin at 2nd level, with standard gold for gear (no more than 50% on any one item).

There will be no templates of any kind. No exceptions.

If you want to play an LA 0 race, you can make a standard 32 point build.
If you want to play an LA+1 race, you'll still start at 2nd level with all of your racial abilities, but you can only make a 24 point build.
If you want to play an LA+2 race, you'll still start at 2nd level with all of your racial abilities, but you can only make a 16 point build.
If you want to play an LA race BELOW 0, you'll start at 3rd level with all of your racial abilities/disabilities, and you can make a 32 point build.

All alignments are available, but the existing party is leaning strongly towards good, and I suspect any outright evil party member will have problems. PvP violence will be smacked down hard, so if you think it'd be an interesting challenge to play a character whom no-one else likes, you probably won't get tied up while you're sleeping and turned over to the authorities, but really, it's not nearly as much fun as you think it will be. I won't flat-out say no to evil, but I think it's a bad idea, and it would be a strike against you. If the rest of your concept is excellent, it's doable.

Who else is in the party?

A heavy-hitting half-giant melee character, a human melee character, and a twisted rat-looking critter who's a combined skill monkey/caster but carries no weapons.

What has already happened?

For full details, you can begin reading here, and then complete the story here.

If a synopsis is good enough for you:

1. A

See below

proclamation went out for brave souls to lead a group of pioneers to resettle a keep which had been abandoned three generations earlier.

2. Upon gathering the volunteers together, the military leader of the local barony informed them that a clan of dwarves had recently begun selling large amounts of mithral. Spies had tracked the caravans back to the general area of the old keep. Part of the decision to try to re-settle what had been basically a failure in the past was the normal desire of a kingdom to make use of its resources, but the main reason for the timing was to locate the mine where the dwarves had struck mithral, inform them that the keep has been re-occupied, and persuade them to trade exclusively with your kingdom. The fact that a river runs directly from the old keep to the capital of the northernmost barony of the kingdom is your ace in the hole--if the keep really is near the mithral mine, they could bypass all the middle men, making the whole transaction more profitable for all concerned.

3. The party was given 50 pioneering type commoners/experts to babysit all the way to their new home. On their way to the keep, the adventurers stumbled across an tiny farming settlement, formed years earlier by refugees from the old keep. Here they learned that the keep was currently occupied by hobgoblins, who were taxing these farmers pretty heavily. They ambushed one of the tax collecting groups, taking them prisoner. Reviewing the tax records, they learned that there were actually three towns formed by refugees after the hobgoblins took the keep. All were currently being taxed, but nothing else was learned about the other two.

4. They left their settlers at the little farming village for safe keeping and the party split at this point. The majority returned to the barony to request better weaponry--they had prepared primarily for just settling in, and their fighting capacity was rather low. Two continued forward to scout the keep. The scouting mission was mostly a failure, providing little information except that one of the walls had been broken by siege equipment at some time in the past and the current inhabitants had been unable to fully repair it. The group that returned to the barony got their equipment without incident.

5. The group reunited and continued towards the keep, finding a much larger settlement of humans on a frequently-flooded island in the middle of the river. Upon questioning the inhabitants, they learned that this group had made a last stand here 70 years ago lead by the dwarf that still runs their blacksmith shop. Further questioning revealed that almost the only industry in this village is raiding the large numbers of weak, divided kobold tribes across the river for supplies and slaves (the slaves are traded to the hobgoblins). Each of the town's leaders was willing to help the party, but each requested a lot in return. None of the offers was particularly good. Eventually, the party learned that what this settlement REALLY wanted was cash for their slaves. The hobgoblins insisted on paying in food--one pound of meat and one pound of grain or vegetables for one pound of slave. The leaders of this human settlement expected the party to pay for their slaves in gold.

6. And that's where we are right now. I'm about 95% certain that the party isn't going to get into the slave trade, which means that they're going to need to get out of this village without taking any of the deals. Incidentally, the hobgoblins have learned that their tax collectors have gone missing and offered a significant reward for information about what happened to them. During the party's discussion with the town leaders, no-one actually threatened to turn them over to the hobgoblins, but no-one really ruled out the possiblity, either.

What do I need in my app?

Stats, a character sheet (made private to me), and a back story. You don't need to go crazy with the back story--a few good paragraphs will do. Just make sure that you end it with yourself a solid week's travel north of civilization. Whether you grew up here or came for some reason is up to you. Put the applications here, and nowhere else. I'm not going to go hunting them down all over the forum.

This may help with your backstory:

The village the party is currently in is dominated by a cult which is distinctly on the Evil side of Lawful Neutral, and this is the first party of outsiders to visit in living memory. Primary industry is raiding and slaving. It has a population of about 200.

The other village they found was strictly subsistence agriculture, with a population of not more than 20 or so. Similarly,this is the first party of outsiders to visit in living memory.

The village they haven't found yet is also tiny, with a population of not more than 20 or so. Not saying more until they actually get there. If your character is from there, and I like your idea, I might go with it, since I'm not really in love with my idea for the place.

Across the river are many many tribes of kobolds, perpetually freezing and starving in the not-particularly fertile land, and in a constant war of all against all.

If you're a dwarf, you don't know where the mithral mine is. Sorry.

One of our players has been trying to contact a kobold for quite a while. He asked me specifically to mention that kobolds are a viable choice for characters. I'm quite sure he's got some cunning plan in mind. The other player wrinkled up her nose and said she didn't think it was a good idea.

One of our players is suggesting that someone play a hobgoblin traitor. Maybe. But not from this tribe--and you've never been in the keep.

Everything below this is from the original ad: