Before requesting access, you are required to read the following:

• Rules of Conduct
• RPoL Terms of Use
• RPoL Mature Games Policy

Game rules may be subject to change.

Applications will not be accepted on a first come-first served basis. Please take some time and give some thought to your answers. Try to provide specific instead of generalised answers. I am interested in gauging whether we would mesh well together as people and players.

SECTION I. CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRE

When pitching your character for the game, keep in mind that some characters may not fit with the game I'm trying to run. Or perhaps won't fit with the characters other players are running. My philosophy is that there needs to be a synergy between the players, GM, and the characters so that we're all rooting for the same thing.

Which in my opinion, should be "a successful game".

Compose your pitch in complete, grammatical sentences. No lists of abilities; no sentence fragments.



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Here are some answers to some questions you might have.

What is the Big Picture?

The game is about the rise of a new monster slayer group. The player characters have been approached by a young thief named Mirrik, who has promised a foolproof scheme to gain wealth and glory. Through some unknown method, he has managed to acquire a monster slaying license from the local monster slayer Guild. Now he needs only people he trusts to help gather bounties and commissions, making something of a name for themselves, where they can then go onwards to greater heights.

What could possibly go wrong?

Who are the players supposed to be?

The player characters are local to Throndheim and its environs. Though they can be from any sort of background, they cannot already be a monster slayer, and they must have some sort of relationship with Mirrik, whether that be family member, friend, or something else. Read the Reference: Setting thread for more information.

At its heart, the game is not really about anything except that which the players bring themselves. They can be heroic adventurers if they wish, or they can be cruel villains. Or they can be neither, motivated only by the most mercenary of reasons. The game is about what happens when these colourful personalities come together and clash.

Right now, I'm only looking for player characters from the following races: Men, Dwarves, Hobbits, and Elves.

What do you mean by "home-brewed system"?

The system I'm using is more about using a quick resolution mechanic, to get the mechanics out of the way of the story and the fiction. I'm a bit of a fan of Keith Baker's Phoenix Dawn Command RPG, with its card-based resolution mechanic.

You won't be choosing your class or race like you would in vanilla D&D, so if you are more interested in optimizing your build, killing everything in sight, and gaining treasure, this is probably not the game for you. Nor are we going to go into lengthy combats every time, with round by round blow-by-blows. That's not the point of this game.

I'm far more excited about exploring interesting characters in a fantastical milieu. :)

So this is freeform?

No. It's far more involved than simply freeform or even guided freeform or even freeform with rolls thrown in. There is a logic and shape to the system, but most of the time, as the Game Master, I'm handling it in the background. You will have to interact with the system only very rarely, though I'm perfectly happy to explain it should you wish.

You'll definitely have a character sheet, though it'll be small and self-contained.

What about game balance?

I take a more nuanced approach to balance than is espoused in D&D. Remember that this game isn't about combat per se. As long as every character has something interesting to do, I don't see a really huge problem. Often in stories you have an ensemble cast of characters with widely differing skillsets. You can have Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn in the same company and the same story.

Style

I expect players to think about their characters' inner life and thoughts and feelings and be descriptive about such in their posts. Some players have only posted their outward physical actions, which is fine for some games, but not the ones I run. I'm interested in character arcs and narratives and emotional pay-offs and so forth.

Lay out your character's backstory gradually. The tendency of most players is to get it all out at the beginning, sometimes in the first post. I've had some players whose first posts were their entire backstory, with 1000 words or more.

Don't do that.

Not only is it contravention to the posting guidelines, but we're just getting to know the characters, the world, the story. The less you spill, the more that is retained. Leave us wanting more, instead of wanting to skim.

Collaboration

I expect players to be open to collaboration in the fiction. I'll rein you back if I feel you come up with something that contradicts the world, but players should generally be open to suggestions from other players and the GM. We're all in charge of the fiction together. You can write for another NPC, just as much as I can. Someone else can even chime in and move other characters around if their idea makes for a more interesting story.

I'm even okay with player characters moving other player characters, with each other's permission, of course. Comfort levels may vary, but if I was playing Doc Brown, and another was playing Marty, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for me to move Marty in such a way:


If you do move another PC or NPC, be sure to be open to making edits if someone says you're doing something to make them go out of character.

Regarding Romance

I'll leave it up to the players whether they'll engage their characters in a romance. Personally, I prefer for romance to arise organically in the story, as opposed to something that is forced or the "point" or the main driver of a game.

Nice as romance is, my aims and interests do not revolve around romance, but instead are concerned with the overarching narrative and the character arcs I'm trying to build in complicated webs between the characters. Romance can play its part, and maybe even a vital part for some arcs, but keep in mind that it's only one part amidst many others.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:04, Sat 14 Nov 2020.