Game Description
"We can choose, but we cannot decide. Fate decides. Fate always decides."
- Casivir von Essyl, Knight-Sentinel of Voln
The Festival of the Ebon Gate.
Or, more precisely, the Festival of the Eve of the Reunion. Every ten years, on the high holy day of Lorminstra, goddess of death and the afterlife, the Ebon Gate is thrown wide. There, family and friends still living can have fleeting glances and passive meetings with the spirits of the dead. This special event is celebrated by a week of feasting and merry making to help release the emotional energy that the living have for the chance to see dead love ones, even if just for a brief moment. The frontier town of Wehnimer's Landing is one of a dozen places where the clergy of Lorminstra will make the necessary rituals to supervise the opening of the Ebon Gate by blessed Lorminstra and permit her faithful (and some who are not so inclined to the goddess) to enter into the fringes of her realm.
You have come for this as well. For the chance to see the Ebon Gate open and seek what you have come to find on the other side. You are not alone. Thousands have come for the same purpose. In this convergence of hearts and minds, the wheels of destiny begin to turn.
But this is only one corner of continent. One event in one place in time. Others move as well, to see their own interests are served before all else.
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A Thousand Tamzzyrian Nights is a Dungeons and Dragons 5e game set on the continent of Elanthia. In this campaign, players will embark on campaign story arcs ranging from levels 2-6 and then again from 6-11 and finally from 11-16. Rather than having one single plot that follows the PCs from levels 1-20, the campaign will focus on smaller 'episodic' adventure arcs.
*The continent of Elanith is adapted from the online MUD game known as Gemstone 4 (formerly Gemstone 3). It is a game I played for over 20 years and I have a very strong knowledge of the world and setting and believe it has a worthwhile flavor to add fun and flare to a DnD game.
Game Style: A classic mix of roleplay, combat and partial-sandbox adventuring. The game will be based on an episodic campaign system. The characters (including their goals, motivations and desires) remain constant as they grow in power and prestige. However, the plot lines are shorter, concluding as players reach the next tier of power. As the PCs advance to a new tier of power, they find themselves confronted with and able to take ever more dangerous challenges. This format allows for me as a DM to craft multiple different storylines for the players to pursue (or not, as they choose) while still giving players the ability to push the campaign in entirely different directions if they so choose.
About Me: I've DMd on the tabletop for over twenty years and have spent about two years DMing here on Mythweavers. Currently I run several campaigns that have managed to maintain very healthy posting rates (generally 1/day). I am a DM you can count on to be here, see his game through and not leave dedicated players hanging in the lurch. My view on how a game of Dungeons and Dragons, particular one here on Mythweavers is detailed below. I encourage you to reach out to my current or past players if you have any questions about my style as a DM and/or the amount of fun I can offer in a campaign.
Expectations on Posting: Ability to post a minimum of one time every weekday is required. A single post is required at some point during the weekend. I have kept this requirement in my other campaigns and they have run successfully for nearly three years now. If you cannot commit to this,
please do not apply. Exceptions for things that come up (as they do) is of course expected, but even the slightest development of a pattern will require me to ask another player to take your spot. I believe that the death of a PbP game is a lack of momentum. Be aware I consider momentum of the game to be its most important asset besides committed players.
Player expectations: I am looking for players who understand several simple and fundamental things about DnD or roleplaying games in general. If you do not agree with my view on these issues, this is not the game for you.
1. The game is more important than your character - This is a shared, group activity. Its success is dependent upon your ability to craft and play a character that is malleable enough that they can bend and flow with most group decisions. If this mentality is shared by the entire party, serious conflicts are unlikely. If you find yourself only able to play characters who are so set in their development, personality and individual arcs that they cannot yield to actions and decisions that move the game forward for the benefit of all, please do not apply.
2. The show must go on - Campaigns work when players realize there is a joint responsibility to make them work. In pbp, this is especially true. We all need each other to keep the campaign fun, engaging and entertaining. The group needs all personalities to drive the campaign, not three personalities and an emotionless stat-block.
3. The campaign world is a shell, not straight jacket. - I am fully aware that this campaign world is the essential equivalent of homebrew to probably 100% of all other Mythweavers players. The background and history (the official canon, as it were) is there to provide a pretty background, names to organizations and places and so on. I am always willing to answer a question about any particular piece of campaign information the players would like to know. The short answer is that the vast, vast majority of it isn't necessary to help someone have fun in this game. If you like that level of crunch in your campaign background, I will happily share your enthusiasm and give you buckets of info. In general though, I don't ask my players to understand more about the campaign world than I have personally provided. If they want to go further, awesome. If they don't, that is fine also.
Combat: Combat will be 'theater of the mind'. No battlemaps will be used. We use a tiered initiative system. There are some houserules in this campaign that you will find in the Houserules thread in the campaign forum.
The Campaign Setting and Important Info:
As mentioned, the campaign is an adaptation of one used in an old text-based MUD online fantasy game. I am an expert in this world's lore and background. I also teach history for a living and use my fifteen years of teaching experience to help convey the ideas of a medieval-ish fantasy world in my descriptions and game world. To make things simple at the start, here are five big ideas to know about the campaign setting,
Elanthia.
1. The Arkati - The creation myth of the world (found in the Campaign Information section of the Game Forum) describes how a war between the world's creators and a mysterious race of demons resulted in the ascendance of a lesser group of immortals called Arkati. Strictly speaking, Arkati are not gods, but their power is so far beyond mortals that they may as well be. They don't often take direct action in the affairs of mortals but their influence is felt in everyday life in a very real and meaningful way.
2. It's still medieval fantasy - Despite some of its twists and quirks, the game is still essentially medieval fantasy at its core. If you approach it as you would Greyhawk or Faerun, odds are good you will not feel at all out of place. There are some examples of Eberron like technologies at work, but they are few and rare.
3. Factions matter - Whether it is the Mercantyler's Guild, the Knights of Ryma, the Order of Voln or the Council of Light (or others), factions are an important political, economic and religious force in the campaign world. We will be using the faction rules from the Adventurer's League to support this concept.
4. Persistent World - The goal of using this setting is that I want to be able to run concurrent campaigns within a single campaign world. The only campaign world I know well enough to do that in is Elanthia. While I love Eberron (and can stomach Faerun), to me the idea of having multiple adventuring groups operating in the same continent (with the potential of their plotlines and outcomes effecting each others campaigns) sounds like a massive amount of fun to me. This game represents the first campaign group to be in play in this world. When my current Eberron campaign concludes over the next few months, I will be creating a second group that will start in a different part of Elanthia.
5. The Frontier - The starting town of the campaign, Wehnimer's Landing, is the main settlement in what the surrounding civilizations collectively call the Frontier. It is the northernmost point of tenuous safety and security for those people with the ambition or need to seek out a new life by braving the dangers of the unsettled regions of the continent. Compared to the power centers like the Turamzzyrian Empire to the south and the Elven Nations to the far east, the Frontier is truly life on the edge.
6. The Great Empires - Two great civilizations dominate the surface of the continent. The first is the Elven Nations, which exist far to the east, across the Dragonspine mountains which bisect the continent. There, each of the Elven Houses (there are five) has their own city state that they vigorously defend against all potential threats, their neighboring Elven Houses included.
To the immediate south of Wehnimer's Landing is the Turamzzyrian empire. Ruled from its capital of Tamzzyr, the Empire is a humanocentric civilization, believing that humans and humans only are blessed by the Arkati, Koar, to rule above all other races. A series of laws known as Chaston's Edicts (named for the emperor who enacted them) severely curtail the political and economic rights of non-humans in the empire, causing many to flee to the northern Frontier to seek a life out from under the yoke of their human overlords. The Empire itself is a fuedal monarchy, with the regional barons always scheming for ways to reduce the power of the throne and increase their own in return.
Starting Point: - The campaign begins in the town of Wehnimer's Landing, a trading town on the Frontier protected by a wooden palisade and the Wehnimer's Militia. "The Landing", as the locals call it, is indepenendant of the major powers of the continent and answer to the town's elected council and the Mercantyler's Guild. As life on the Frontier is a dangerous affair, the town boasts a number of helpful services to adventurers packed into small, cramped streets. Its the perfect place for a stranger looking to get lost in the world and start again.
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Character Creation (Nuts and Bolts):
**We use Milestone XP to determine advancement**
https://www.myth-weavers.com/showthr...0#post13080670
The above link also contains the thread where all applications should be posted, along with a thread for asking any questions or discussing with other applicants about the campaign. There is also a thread on campaign information for those looking for help building their backgrounds.
Please ensure your application includes a full character sheet with all of the nuts and bolts of your character clearly listed.
All characters will begin at level 6 with the standard starting equipment in the PHB. We will discuss additional equipment once your character is selected.
The following are allowed options for character creation/building.
1. The Players Handbook - 5th Edition
2. All options from Xanathar's Guide
3. All option from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide except for any race (or racial variant) that grants flight.
4. Some Unearthed Arcana content (check with me first, I'll have additional questions about your planned build.)
5. Matt Mercer's Gunslinger Fighter Archtype and his Blood Hunter Class are both available. See http://www.dmsguild.com/ for both of these.
We will be using the standard point buy from the rulebook for character creation. Rolling for stats is not allowed. Each character is allowed a single free feat of their choosing. The Lucky feat is not allowed and cannot ever be taken in this campaign. You must select one of the backgrounds from the PHB (soldier, criminal, etc) or any other supplement in the list above. You can also create a custom background as per PHB rules.
No character may be of any evil alignment without prior DM approval.
Character Creation (Roleplay): - Character Applications go here -->
http://www.myth-weavers.com/showthread.php?t=344942
A complete character application will include all of the following
1. The character background - Not to be confused with the background selection in the PHB, this is a written history of the character.
2. Why are you here? - In a single paragraph (or so), provide a separate explanation as for why your character would be coming to Wehnimer's Landing to take part in the Festival of the Ebon Gate. If you have already covered this in your background, please summarize it again in brief.
3. How did you get to level 6? - In a single paragraph (or so), provide a separate explanation as for how your character achieved sixth level. Feel free to be as creative as you like (killing all the things! is not required to earn a level after all) but keep it in the realm of reason. If you already covered this in your background, please summarize it again in brief.
2. All characters will have an Ideal, Bond and Flaw as per normal D&D 5e character generation. The lists in the PHB are guides, you may invent your own.
3. An IC post in which the character has a self-reflection while on the road to the Landing. Length is up to you.
4. Not related to your character, but please include your timezone in your app.
Character Creation (The Player): -
Please answer the following questions about yourself as a player. These don't necessary determine if you get in the game or not, but help me craft adventures to fit the players. There are no wrong answers here. Some of the questions are Multiple Choice. The prefered format for these answers is that you copy and paste the question as well as any answers you are going to provide into your app.
1. Have you ever played DnD before? How long? What editions? How often can you post per day?
2. How important would you say it is to you to have control over your character's story arc?
-a.- Extremely important. I believe the role of a DM is to help a player realize their full vision for a character.
-b.- Very important. I like to be able to set the path my character walks down with the understanding that the DM may throw obstacles in the way for my character to overcome.
-c.- Moderately important. I don't mind if the DM decides to take my character down an entirely different path as long as the DM lets me know that I have the option of sticking with my own original plans as well.
-d.- Minimally important. I'm happy to let the DM have free reign over what happens to my character, I really enjoy the ride!
3. This game will be using Theater of the Mind combat. How much will this detract from your enjoyment of combat?
-a.- A great deal. I am a tactician at heart and enjoy the fine detail of a grid-based combat system. Highly tactical combat is among my favorite parts of DnD.
-b.- Somewhat. I prefer a grid battle system when possible, but I don't require it to be available for me to enjoy combat.
-c.- Not much at all. I prefer Theater of the Mind combat
4. Please rate the following on a scale of 1-4. A 1 means you actually dislike doing the activity in a roleplaying game. A 4 means you find it to be one of the main things you like about playing DnD and fantasy roleplaying games in general.
a. Combat
b. Optimizing a character mechanically
c. Creating and thinking up new character concepts
d. Social interactions with NPCs
e. Complex political plotlines centered around gray-area morality and intrigue.
f. Dungeon delving
g. Freeform sandbox gameplay
h. Linear (not railroad) campaign storylines
i. Settlement and stronghold building and similar mechanics.
j. Finding new and more interesting magical items.
k. Freedom to explore the limits of open ended spells and abilities (illuisions and so forth).
l. A game with lots of momentum and regular posting.
m. A game where the PCs are eager to interact with each other through roleplay.
n. Explore new DM introduced game mechanics like factions, crafting systems and so on.
* If there is an aspect of DnD you feel I haven't covered that is important to you, please mention it as well.
Anything beyond this may help, but is not required.
A Thousand Tamzzyrian Nights
