Quick Overview:

The talk of the streets and taverns has all been about the so-called death curse: a wasting disease afflicting everyone who’s ever been raised from the dead. Victims grow thinner and weaker each day, slowly but steadily sliding toward the death they once denied.

When they finally succumb, they can’t be raised—and neither can anyone else, regardless of whether they’ve ever received that miracle in the past. Temples and scholars of divine magic are at a loss to explain a curse that has affected the entire region, and possibly the entire world. There are rumors it may originate in the jungles of Chult, and you have reasons of your own for visiting that foreign land. While you survive long enough to stop the death curse, or will you perish in the attempt?



Hi all, and welcome to my campaign for the WoTC published Tomb of Annihilation campaign. Despite the length of the below, before applying, I would strongly encourage you to not only read through this information, but also consider whether or not this game seems like a good fit for your play style and long term interests. The write up and the application length are long, but this is to do my best to find PCs who will be a good fit for the campaign and my play-style and who seem to have the dedication to stay with the game for the long haul.

Thanks for considering, whether you ultimately apply or not!

Campaign Setting:

This is a campaign to play through the Tomb of Annihilation D&D 5E campaign, with of course several alterations from me as we progress. The campaign is set in the Forgotten Realms, and while most of it will take place in Chult, the campaign does start in Baldur’s Gate. This is an epic campaign designed to start at level one and progress for, well, a good long while! As such, I ask you to consider before joining if you are really interested in this; will you want to be playing one month/six months/years from now? I am looking for 4-5 players that have not played through this campaign before. The below should hopefully explain some of the basics of the game, but please ask regarding any other questions.

Game/DM style:

After the first several levels, the campaign will be a hex crawl leading toward a large dungeon crawl. The campaign can be run as a meat grinder with a strict time limit, but my campaign will be a little looser, more player friendly and somewhat more focused on roleplaying (though there will still be lots of combat).

The campaign can be run as a sandbox, but I will be steering the PCs a little more in certain directions without being fully “on rails.”

This will be the fifth game I’ve run on RPOL. This game will have a mix of grid combat and also theater of the mind. There are also times when I will make die rolls for players to keep things moving (such as rolling initiative, behind the screen checks when I think they're necessary). I will also oftentimes use side/group initiative to keep the game moving more quickly, and I tend to flip around between initiative styles.

This is a mature game in the sense that everyone playing should act like adults, and there will probably be some light profanity, but it will not otherwise feature adult themes.

In general terms, I would say my strength as a DM is reliability and consistency in posting. Real life happens of course, but under most circumstances, I'm not going to quit on the game unless the majority of PCs all quit first. I would say I'm not as good at keeping every rule straight/remembering every unique trait on each PC, and my posts, while functional and coherent, are oftentimes not as descriptive as some of the best GMs/PCs (although this is an area I continue trying to improve upon). Like most folk, I will have the occasional busy weekend or (more rarely) busy day during M-F, but I am very good about letting PCs know when the game is taking a short hiatus or if I'm just going to miss a day of posting.

Posting Style/Frequency:

I am looking for people who can commit to posting at least once a day, inclusive of weekends (although there can be some flexibility on weekends). Momentum is very hard to keep going in a PBP game, but daily posting and progress can help with that. Near daily progress is what keeps games alive. I do not start a lot of games because I don’t want to overcommit, and also because I want to honor my commitment to keep my games moving even on days when I’m short of time.

If you have the need to leave the game for a very brief period (going on vacation without internet, for example), and you let me know ahead of time, that is okay, but the game will continue moving forward with me controlling the PC in the interim (and likely the PC not doing very much). If you ghost from the game and do not post for several days without explanation, then you will be replaced. That being said, I would really like to keep the same characters, as the narrative hijinks of rotating out PCs on a frequent basis is frustrating and time consuming. So, I want those that apply to confirm in writing that if they leave the game, they are giving me permission to replace the player and have someone else take over their character.

Game posts should be written in third person.

Party Leader:

I would like for one PC to be the "party leader.” The party leader has the ability to confirm the final decision when the party is discussing a course of action. The party leader can be the tie-breaking vote, but cannot overrule 3 or more party members. The party leader can also propose a course of action, and if no one raises objection or wants to discuss further within 12 hours in real time, then their decision can be taken as the group’s decision, and the DM will move the game forward. We will work to come up with an in-game reason for why this specific PC is the group leader.

In my observation, part of the problem in PBP games is that there is a lot of time spent trying to decide what to do next; sometimes this is even as simple as deciding whether to go right or left in a dungeon. Having a person say, "we're going left," and then if there are no objections within said 12 hours of real time, the group goes left without waiting for everyone to say "sounds good," can be a big help.

The party leader is not there to take away player agency or force the group to do what they want to do all the time. If the leader's course of action sounds anathema to what your PC would do, then you should speak up and work together to find common ground. The leader is simply there to help the DM keep the game moving. Just as being a DM is more work/responsibility than being a PC, being the party leader is more responsibility as well.

Just like any other PC, the party leader can suggest courses of action for other PCs ("hey, Rogue, why don't you check that room for traps?") but they cannot act for another player (the Rogue would need to respond "Of course! Rogue does a thorough search for traps"). This should only be done sparingly.

The party leader is not there to be the only person posting alongside the DM. This is not an opportunity to check in on the game, see that the party leader said you're headed left, and then log out. If that happens, everyone will lose interest in reading a 2-player game between the party leader and DM. Again, the posting rate is 1x a day minimum. If the party leader says you're headed left and you agree, then at least post that you concur, you brace yourself for danger, you take the opportunity to scout ahead, you wipe the hobgoblin blood off your sword, etc. At the very least, saying hi in the OOC thread even if your character is simply waiting to see what happens can be helpful.

I have tried this party leader tactic in another game and have found that it works quite well. The party leader does an excellent job of helping me to keep the game moving. When the party is gelling and posting frequently, the party leader doesn't have much responsibility beyond the other PCs. At times when there are questions on which door to open first, the party leader takes a more active role in steering the group.

Party Conflict:

I'm not interested in a game with a lot of internal party conflict. You're there to fight the monsters, not each other. Again, if you want to handle a situation differently from what the party leader or another party member suggests, then by all means speak up and work with the other PCs to form a different plan, but I don't want to watch the PCs constantly bicker and question each other. It bleeds over into the OOC thread and it stalls momentum. Specifically, I do not want characters that do not get along well with others. What happens here is that these types of characters, while they may be well played, lead to said intra-party conflict, and that devolves into arguments about how people are roleplaying. It’s not fun. I don’t need a party where everyone’s tripping over themselves to be best friends (although that’s fine if happens!), but there should be a level of respect and a team-oriented approach.

Character Applications/Character Sheet:

I will keep Character Applications open for 1 week minimum; they may remain open for longer depending on the volume and quality of applications received. Unless I bump the thread, assume one week from the day the ad is posted.

Filling out the full character sheet as part of your application is a plus, but is not mandatory. If you choose to do so, please use the character sheet found here:

link to a message in another game

While I may review them from time to time, once accepted to the game, each PC will be expected to keep their own character sheet up to date (current HP, XP, etc).

Characters start at level 1. All characters can be built with info from the Player’s Handbook + one other official sourcebook. UA ranger is also allowed. You may inquire regarding other UA, or some very light home brew, but I am more inclined to support officially published material. No flying characters. All characters should preferably be of good alignment, although I may allow 1-2 neutral characters. Characters start at level one and are built using either the standard array or 27 point buy. I am looking for the party to be a good mix of different classes, and that will be taken into consideration for applications. I can be flexible within reason on starting equipment swapping; just ask.

You are welcome to submit more than one character idea if you like, but I have found the applications that focus on one better developed character are usually stronger than those with several different character concepts; if I like the concept but have another application that’s very similar and there’s a “party balance” concern, then we talk about changes we can make and whether or not said changes will work for the PC.

I realize this is a lengthy application, but again, its owing to my goal of trying to find a good group of PCs. Putting in the extra time to the application process and selecting the right PCs can help get us off on the right foot. Also, I don’t need reams and reams of text on your character. A paragraph or

Please provide the following information with your application:

1. Why you are interested in joining this game
2. A brief background history of your character, inclusive of one of the character hooks noted below.
3. Information on how you know the NPC referenced below.
4. A brief example of the character in roleplay (remember, use third person for the writing; if you need a prompt, have your character greet the NPC referenced below after the two have not seen each other for a while)
5. Consent to use your character if you disappear from the game and don’t post for 1 week without prior notice that you will be away
6. If you would like to be considered the leader for the party, and why
7. Your experience with PBP games, including the longest and shortest game you've participated in
8. Your usual/standard posting window, in Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday
9. Whether or not you'd want to be added to a waiting list and would be willing take over someone else's character should they leave
10. Verification you have not played this campaign before beyond 1st level or so

Depending on what you write in your application, I may have questions or ideas in regards to backstory, and I would strongly encourage interaction with me on this, although doing does not automatically mean you will be added to the game. I will only be accepting four to five PCs, so depending on the volume of applications, I may have to turn away a number of great ideas. I can/will add people to a wait list, and my experience is that people on the wait list do sometimes get an opportunity in the game if they are patient.

Character Hooks:

Incorporate ONE of the following into your character background (see question 2 in the character application above).

1. You were a tag-along in a group of adventurers called The Company of the Yellow Banner, who helped look after you a few years back. The Company of the Yellow Banner left some time ago for an expedition to the Jungles of Chult, and now you’re desperate to find out what happened to your old friends.

2. You grew up in a wealthy household, and your family took in another family to live with them. In fact, the family you took in was former royalty from Chult. The youngest daughter of the family you took in is your dear friend Princess Mwaxanaré. Her family ruled the land of Omu, an area of Chult that’s fallen into the clutches of the undead, or worse. In a recent letter to you, Princess Mwaxanaré explained that she’s left for Chult to restore her kingdom. Owing to the formative years you spent together, you feel duty bound to go to Chult and help the Princess in any way you can.

3. You have had a long obsession with the study of life and death, and the death curse which has overtaken the world is something which particularly fascinates you. You have been trying to ascertain clues as to where it might be originating from so you might study it more closely and, if possible, end it.

4. You grew up on the streets of Baldur’s Gate with Azaka Stormfang, another street urchin. She sailed off many years ago to Chult because she believed there was money to be made as a guide through its treacherous jungles. Hard pressed for cash yourself, you’re looking to reunite with your old friend, and hopefully to earn some coin as well.

5. You are a member of the Harpers, and another member of your organization, one Artus Cimber, has fled to Chult with a powerful artifact. The Harpers are fearful this artifact could fall into the wrong hands, and you have been tasked with finding out the fate of Artus and getting him to return the artifact to the Harpers.

6. You’ve been having odd visions and dreams that you feel are tied into your spellcasting abilities. A voice in these dreams claims the source of all your power lies deep within the jungles of Chult, and you feel an almost compulsive need to explore the jungles and discover the connection to the voice that torments your sleep.

7. At a young age, your sibling was stolen from your family in the night; you still recall the horrid screams of your mother, and the horrid image of the creature that stole them from you. You remember the creature mentioning the Sewn Sisters, and you now have reason to believe that this group of Sewn Sisters, whatever it may be, makes its lair deep within Chult. You must find them, and find out the fate of your lost sibling.

8. As a member of the Order of the Gauntlet, you’ve been tasked with a mission to assist the Order within Chult in its never ending battle with the undead in the jungle. The order has already lost one outpost to the undead, and you must work to ensure that they do not lose another.

NPC:

Let me know how your PC knows the NPC Faryenas Caydron, who is described below (question 3 in the character application above). You do not have to be a close friend of Faryenas, but he is someone who would know you on sight.

Faryenas Caydron is an inquisitive Dragonborn who’s led a rather remarkable life. Abandoned as a baby, he was raised by a blacksmith in Luskan, and he spent several years as a member of the Order of the Gauntlet. Finding that his heart wasn’t in such work, Faryenas then took up scholarly pursuits, studying history while cloistered within the walls of Candlekeep. Seeking to then see much of the world he’d only read about, Faryenas traveled throughout the realms, sometimes by himself or with one or two companions, and often among the company of fellow explorers and adventurers.

Having amassed a small fortune in some of his dungeon delving expeditions, Faryenas dedicated most of his wealth to several charitable endeavors, founding a school of history and arcane study in Waterdeep, a mystical garden in the Neverwinter Wood, and a theater in Baldur’s Gate.

Faryenas is never one to suffer fools gladly, and he is quick to temper when he believes himself in the right, especially when it relates to history or magic. He has often been quoted as saying that much of what ails the world could be solved with a steadfast determination to eliminate ignorance. Faryenas is very loyal to his friends, and is never one to forget a face, seeming to have an uncanny memory for anyone he’s spent time with. That being said, Faryenas is fondest of spending his time with those whom he can teach and those who he can learn from.


You made it! Thanks so much for reading all the way to the end of this, and whether we end up playing together or not, and happy gaming!
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:48, Sun 21 June 2020.