Character Creation

[wezzyfish]

All characters created need to come from official 3.5 books. When you create your character application, it should be titled the name of your character. All characters will start at level 1 and use 4d6, reroll 1s and drop the lowest. Put them in whatever order you wish. You may roll 2 sets of stats and choose which one you prefer.

I will take the 4-6 characters I think will be the most interesting and fun, though writing skill is also important for telling a good story in this format. I will not take more than 6 players for any reason. When I played this one at the table, I only invited 4 people so we'll see.

Make sure your application has listed your race, class, alignment and physical description. An image is nice too but not required.
You also will need to have a link to a completed character sheet.

Max HP at first level and every extra level it will round up to at least half.

All characters can start with an extra 4 skill points to distribute as part of their background fluff. These must be spent on one of the following skills: Craft, Profession, Perform, or Knowledge. Alternatively, they may instead choose another language to know at 1st level.

1 flaw and 2-3 traits are fine, just keep it within the character concept. Concepts interest me far more than builds.

You will not start with any equipment but the clothes on your back (and those filthy and rags at this point) as you are prisoners of the drow. That said, you may have a small list of items that you had on you when captured that you think the drow may have held on to and I'll put them in an appropriate place in the drow outpost and it will be up to you to find them or not during the escape. Animal companions and familiars are fine but will be held in a cage somewhere not in the cell with you.

I'm not too worried about a backstory, as you are level 1, but give me something that explains where you come from and more importantly, who you are. What type of personality does your character have? Any fears or desires? What motivates them? Any important people in their lives? Any information only I should know that you want to keep secret? I expect most of you will be taken from the surface and trying to get back there, though I'm open to some Underdark-familiar characters as well.

This adventure is a harrowing journey rich with great NPCs and locations, and it is going to be very dangerous. It is going to be run as a survival horror meets "Alice in Wonderland" type of theme. You will start as one of many prisoners and will need to plan your escape. You know nothing other than your cell as you were heavily drugged when you were put in there, and all you remember are glimpses of wandering through dark caverns, drow faces and spiders, along with whatever other dark drug-induced dreams filled your mind. This is a violent and adult-oriented game with very evil themes, so be 17+ and prepared for some dark stuff. (Nothing sexual)

As a player, you will be expected to post as frequently as possible with something substantial that offers something to the game at least 2 times a week, though more frequent is ideal. In my experience, one of the things that can kill interest in these PBP games is the slow pace. If you feel like nothing is happening, make something happen, and I will also try to keep things moving as much as I can and will try to post something at least 4 times a week. I am 38 years old, have children half the time and a busy career as a teacher I also like to travel and camp (usually in the summer when I'm not working), but I will let you know of any hiatus and keep communication going. I'd like for this to be a long-running game.

I have been playing D&D, mostly as a DM for 23 years. I've mostly played table-top with numerous players. I've also played quite a lot of PBP games, some long-running and successful and many not. Sometimes that was my fault and sometimes it wasn't. I haven't played a PBP in many years, but I'm down to make it happen now that my life has settled down substantially. The way I see it, the more each person involved puts into the game, the more we all get out of it and the easier it is for everyone to help keep it alive. This adventure is kind of two parts. Part 1 ends at around level 8 and we can assess how we all feel at that point. If we continue, part 2 ends around level 15. This will be done using milestone leveling. At the table, meeting once or sometimes twice a month and playing long sessions, we finished part 1 in about a year, so with this format, the adventure can go as long as we want.

Out of the Abyss is a 5e module for D&D. I will be using it as a basis for this campaign, but there will be many stark changes made as it is being run 3.5. I have experience doing this with other campaigns, and this one as well, run over the table. In addition to this, I have taken a lot of liberty with the entire adventure, so even if this is one you are familiar with, I think you may enjoy many of the changes and flavor I've added to it. One reason that I think this particular adventure is suited to PBP is that much of it can be played theater-of-the-mind easily and we will rely on that primarily. I will try to provide maps whenever it is important however.

Please share any questions or comments you may have here.