If you haven't read the game intro yet, do it.

Gun5 contacted you on the darknet and arranged a little solo test. What that was is up to you. Point is you passed, and your payment was 500gp. Your next move was to meet him at the No Tell Hotel in Neverwinter. You will find the lobby empty and will meet your fellow players while you wait to meet him in person.

Here is where I'll go over any questions on the world, and you will all work together to create your characters to possibly have a well rounded team.

Then once our session zero is complete, I'll create the No Tell Hotel thread and we can start our intros.

I will run this game by location threads, not acts or chapters. This way groups can split whenever they want to go wherever they want. Neverwinter can be explored but it isn't part of the campaign, so we should keep that brief.

Tymir had asked about clerics bc of the lack of interest in the gods:

Not to say the gods don't exist, just that people choose to ignore them. A cleric could be one of the very few that still worship a diety, or could get their power from televangelism and are able to purchase high tech "magic" to further convince their followers of their righteousness/power.

I've only just started to consider character options. I don't know jack about the 2077 setting, so I'll need to do some research on that. Here are some things that have come to mind:

Divine Soul Sorc/Hexblade: Combat-wise he'll be blasting people with eldritch-blast hand cannon things (think Ironman). He's a Twitch streamer who also plays the bagpipes. He's a utility caster, so big on party buffs. Most of his spell slots go to using Quicken metamagic for even more eldritch blasts.

Necromancer Wizard: his undead army is actually robots with AI. His spells keep them in check and under his control, but if he doesn't refresh that control they go nuts. Or maybe they really are zombies, and I either start the zombie apocalypse (accidentally of course) or I'm like the woman from Walking Dead who has two leashed zombies to keep me safe.

Order Cleric: he's a hypnotist, and when he speaks the special command words his allies attack people around them without even knowing it.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:57, Fri 30 Apr 2021.

I like all this.

We can build this world together, I don't have any set cannon stuff i'm following. The world is Sword Coast Forgotten Realms WITH WORKING TOILETS.

In the year 1600 there was a virus but no one remembers what happened, just that everyone took the vaccine and it was all good. It's been 400 years and the corporations rule the world. Conspiracy theorists think that Acquisitions Inc is the bad guy, you probably think so too.

As for gameplay and combat, I will paste links to maps of dungeons but will not use maps for battles, its theater of the mind with players best interest in mind. I'm more interested in providing a challenge that you ultimately win, than on counting squares or providing the most tactical combat.

I also considered a Warlock. What if she heard the voice of The Great Old One on the darkweb? How would Computer skills work for your setting?

arcana or history or religion checks, depending on what lore exactly you're searching for. :)

And casting guidance is basically googling. :)

I would think investigation would be the most generic computer use skill, but you could also implement stealth and perception in a virtual matrix like situation.

Yes, that makes sense. What about engendering the cyberpunk goodies?

Survival” could translate to an Urban variety. Would Paladins translate into this world?

Paladins are just people devoted to a cause, so they should fit in just fine. You could be a fitness trainer, a vegan, a government conspiracy theorist, an investment banker, animal rescue advocate, a firefighter. The list goes on and on.

“Elf Lives Matter” activist.

Unless someone's already called dibs, I'd love to play a monk - just speed and fighting skills boosted by cyberware (reflex boosts, plated knuckles for punchy stuff, and so on).  I'm wavering concept-wise between a gangbanger and a corporate, "Agent from the Matrix" kind of guy.

I’m leaning toward an Anarchist of some sort. Perhaps a Bard or Arcane Trickster.

I'm leaning toward one of these two. I'm also giving some thought to a paladin since some of those ideas I threw out there earlier actually seem like they could be pretty fun.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:34, Fri 30 Apr 2021.

Your handler Gun5 is a Paladin: the knights of Dren. He looks like Johnny Silverhand (and similarly is a bit of a dick)

So yeah Paladins fit no prob.

The elf lives matter statement made me laugh.

Also the Zhentarim are a huge part of the black network.

And there is a good group of soldiers called the Order of the Gauntlet. They are like the peace corps.

Then there’s the Anteris Alliance. These are basically the military that is owned by Acquisitions Inc. They are usually the sheriffs/police in towns/cities, but some cities have privatized security.

I am considering going with a street samurai, or solo style melee and thrown weapon style, which isn't a monk so shouldn't be exclusive of that plan, although with such a small group two melee combatants may still be a bit restrictive to our group versatility.

if we end up without a healer I'll be generous with the health pots. And unless you choose to ignore them, end up disagreeing with them, or end up killing them, there might be an npc companion along for the ride.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:14, Fri 30 Apr 2021.

With small parties an NPC 'functionary' is sometimes helpful, just as long as they aren't the leader/face/contact type, that gets a little bit confusing about which NPC is 'on the team' and which NPC is one of the potential riddles or challenges that make up the outside world.

I'm fine playing just about anything, actually.  If we need a healer, I'm sure I can whip up your friendly neighborhood Street Surgeon.  :)

At low level a druid, or even ranger, that uses goodberry to mimic the effects of some kind of stim pack, nanite first aid, or synth skin kind of thing would be more than sufficient to count as a healer.  There are even urban versions of both classes that would be very helpful.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:02, Fri 30 Apr 2021.

I think I've decided.

Jarod is a young guy who was pretty good at baseball growing up, but he really sucked at school. They wouldn't let him play because of his failing grades, so he dropped out to become some white trash nobody. He fights with a baseball bat (warhammer), and he has a big gun but he mostly uses it for intimidation because he's not a very good shot. He spends a lot of time on his cell phone (vessel) talking to some girl who likes to video chat but always has the lights turned off in her room.

V. Human Paladin (Vengeance)/Warlock (Genie)

What about an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer NetRunner?

Thinking druids would have to be transformers or made out of the stuff the t1000 is made of so they can wild shape

There is a new Circle of the Forged subtype of Druid that is just that.  It would also be possible to make the druid something more like a rigger, just give their wildshape a more drone like behavior, the mind transfers into it but the body doesn't.

Okay, I think I've settled on a character concept - going with a human Cleric of the Life Domain, but with the Soldier background.  In a nutshell, he was a Trauma Team extraction specialist, tasked with helping to pull injured clients out of hot zones and making sure they made it to safety alive.  All of his "spells" would stem from standard combat medic equipment and training... Cure Wounds could be self-adhering bandages, painkillers, and wound-sealing nanotech, Bless could be a stimulant patch that temporarily amps up the recipient, Spiritual Weapon could be a small deployable guard drone, and so on.

Thoughts?

Perfect. would you want any knowledge on gods or are you a man/woman of science?

There are few clerics who still try to worship their god and spread the religion but they are broke as a joke. The ones who do well are televangelists who severely take their gods creed wrong: for example lathander god of light - the church is basically a custom neon light manufacturer that promises good luck when you buy these lights.

Tymora goddess of luck - all the temples are casinos.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:32, Sat 01 May 2021.

No need for gods here.

There are no atheists in foxholes.  :)

While he's not a devout, "all glory to god on high" type cleric, my as-yet-unnamed guy at the very least pays lip service to Ilmater, the god of endurance.  Kind of in a "dammit, Ilmater, let this guy hang on until we can get him to the hospital" sort of way.

Ooh.  This sounds super neat.  Plus I've always had a soft spot in my heart for NetRunners.

Do we have a character sheet format to use, or should we just pull one from any other 5e game?

What about Elder Gods? ;) I’m digging the Aberrant Mind Sorcerer, but I could also play an Arcane Trickster if you need diversified skills.

DM isn't going to check them, so it doesn't matter which one you use.

DM, did you say no Goliaths?

Do we have motorcycles in this world?

Fair enough, I will put together the melee cyber street samurai build then, and see where that takes me.

I built out every character on D&DB as I came up with the concept, so mine's ready to go.

Hell yeah there’s motorcycles.

Elder gods are fine. Whatever you pick I’ll do research and play it but with a 2077 twist.

I said pbp races only. Which means no goliaths. But then someone asked if they could do custom lineage which now means you can do whatever you want. So...
I don’t care

I’m down to Aberrant Mind Sorcerer NetRunner, some sort of Arcane Trickster (NetRunner could also work), or an Amazon Biker Solo (Barbarian).

I just finished building out a barbarian solo, if you want it I can PM it to you and play something else.

Nope. If you built it first, you have dibs, that wouldn’t be fair to you. I’ll go with one of the first two.

(Unless you wanna say we ran with the same gang, and we’ll have two Barbarians! Lol)
This message was last edited by the player at 02:41, Sun 02 May 2021.

The same gang isn't a bad idea, but I don't think we want two barbarians.

Unless you feel like having shared abilities with someone else would somehow lessen your enjoyment, there's nothing wrong with having 2 barbs.

And as long as you're not taking the same subclass, you'll probably still feel unique enough that you aren't stepping on toes too much. Totally up to you two, though.

Barbarians are a fairly focused role, unless we really need a lot of melee attackers they are fairly low on versatility.

But if we want to roll that way I don't have any personal aversion to it, I have never found that I suffer from other similar characters, particularly not in a game where we have a good amount of cosmetic customization.

Overloading melee DPS is valid. I'm almost entirely melee focused at the moment, and will be until level 6. I can make a simple change to gain a good ranged option at the cost of a somewhat crappy AoE that I mostly took for flavor.

Overloading... melee... DPS?

Man, you folks are gonna make me WORK for my paycheck, aren't you?  XD

- your friendly neighborhood cleric

We have to earn ours by beating things up, you gotta earn yours by un-beating us up.

ok check out the factions, you can pick one that you want to be part of if you like. This game is fairly faction heavy.

You don't have to pick one.

Final thing, are you all meeting for the first time or have run jobs together before?

I like already known one another, it saves us a slow start. I'm not opposed to the alternative, though.

I tend to think knowing each other is a better way to start.  We may not have worked together as a complete group but having had positive encounters of some kind is probably for the best.

I agree - knowing each other, even in passing, makes the group mesh just that much more quickly.

EDIT: As for factions, I'm fine with pretty much any of them except the Harpers, especially since NotJun is considering a NetRunner.  Maybe start off with the History Hackers because of the connection with Gun5Dren, and branch out later on?
This message was last edited by the player at 22:45, Sun 02 May 2021.

yeah you have to ally with the history hackers, otherwise you would just be brainwashed like everyone else.

If the Harpers oppose the 1%, then I’m down for that and ditching NetRunner. Which hackers are their opposite number, would that be the Harpers?
This message was lightly edited by the player at 23:54, Sun 02 May 2021.

Change my name to Ember. I’m going with Aberrant Mind Sorcerer.