Hiya all!

Before we start, I am going to ask you a question.

I have three possible campaigns to run. Which one depends on what you prefer.

Curse of Strahd -- gothic fantasy horror with heroic moments. Ghosts, werewolves, vampires, cursed love, Bram Stoker stuff. This is a classic campaign from the 1980s that has been updated.

Descent into Avernus -- an urban setting that is basically Fantasy Gotham City. But the majority of it takes place elsewhere that is very dark indeed. If you choose this one, your group will all be connected with a Dark Secret.

Rime of the Frostmaiden -- This just came out last year. It starts out as dark-ish fantasy and switches to a Lovecraftian tone about 2/3 through (as in, the last part is literally an homage to a well-known HPL story). The whole campaign takes place in frozen tundra. If you choose this one, each of you will have a personal secret that you are hiding from the others.

So, what do you prefer?

Note: Descent starts in an urban setting, but it doesn't stay that way.

To be honest, I am hesitant about suggesting it, because a lot of players really wouldn't like Descent, since it is likely to involve the characters' personalities changing considerably during the course of the campaign without your control, which people tend to not like (and poses problems for characters like clerics whose abilities are tied into a particular belief system). And it's very rail-roady. On the plus side, it's relatively short.

I would personally prefer one of the other two, but it's in there as a dark "watch as your character gets corrupted" option.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:49, Thu 01 Apr 2021.

In reply to Key and Guardian of the Gate (msg # 2):

my vote is for curse of strahd then.

In reply to Key and Guardian of the Gate (msg # 1):

Curse of strahd I think we played a bit of before one of the players got all weird.

I'm up for any of them, as long as I can wear some sexy leather outfit and be fabulous.

You're always fabulous. Yes, you played the first 0.1% of Curse of Strahd, so that's fine, as long as you don't use your Special Knowledge of that 0.1%.

I need some preference from ya.

In reply to Key and Guardian of the Gate (msg # 5):

Fine then, Curse of Strahd. All I remember is that joker clown and his "amazing" songs anyway.

OK, Will? You cool with Curse, or do you have a preference for something else?

Once we get that decided, we can go with character generation.

In reply to Key and Guardian of the Gate (msg # 7):

Never used this platform before so i might need some pointers as we go.  are there ways to specify in-game speak vs player to player speak

Right now, you'll all post as players. When I get your character name, I'll change the name that you post under.

Normally, in a game, you'll type stuff in character and then, underneath, write OOC (out of character) : "something" like this:

OOC: do I see anything in the pool?

You'll see in the lower right corner options for inserting private or secret lines that only selected people can see.


There will also be a dedicated Out of Character thread.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:12, Fri 02 Apr 2021.

In reply to Key and Guardian of the Gate (msg # 7):

Curse is good with me!

Curse of Strahd it is!

OK, character generation time.

This campaign is set in the Forgotten Realms setting. If you don't know this setting, don't worry about it -- suffice it to say that it is a "standard" DnD high-fantasy setting based on medieval Europe with elves, dwarfs, and so on.

We have three characters.

Assuming Bryan goes with his standard character, one of them is a Wood Elf Fighter. So we need two other characters.

It would be highly advisable for one of you to be a good-aligned Cleric or Paladin.

So, what would you like to play? Race, class, and so on.

In reply to Key and Guardian of the Gate (msg # 11):

OOC: if the role isn't too overly complicated id be down to fill in any critical or advisable roles as I'm incredibly rusty with the mechanics of these kinds of games =)

Rogue? That way you could fill in for sneaky/charming stuff. And Will could be the cleric/paladin if he is OK with that.

In reply to Key and Guardian of the Gate (msg # 13):

Wonderful!  Works for me! =)

I guess I will take the "goody two shoes" role of the healer/moral compass.

OK, great!

It's 1 am here, so I'll give chargen instructions tomorrow. Hopefully the game can start soon.

OK, here are my very simple CharGen instructions. I assume you all have copies of the Player's Handbook?

Just use the system in there, allocating the following numbers to characteristics and then applying modifiers: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8.

Please pay attention to the Background stuff, since I lean on that heavily. And I do need height and weight, since that matters (for things like traps mwahahaha).

We have a Wood Elf with the Folk Hero background, so it would be best if other characters not be elven folk heroes.

That's it! And when I get the characters, we will start.

(and it's best NOT to spend your starting money before the game starts!)

In reply to Key and Guardian of the Gate (msg # 17):

OK I haven't played in ages, and will need to read up on creating a character

In reply to WildWill (msg # 18):

likewise.  google is helping me figure it out right now =)

I have my character sheet.  How do I get it to you

OK, I have two sheets and am waiting for Flame's; I will write them into my preferred format, upload them, and we will start.

I have started the game with Adahlen, since he is the complete character sheet that I have. As the rest are completely finished, I will introduce you (you'll walk into the inn).