Welcome to Recruitment for A Shrouded World
A week ago your regiment of an invincible army was soundly crushed by an upstart rebel and his half trained militia.
Five days ago the handful of you who had survived the harried run across the mountains made your way back to the coast and the fleet that was waiting to return you home in victory
Two days ago the fleet was swallowed by a deep, swirling mist and wracked by a sudden typhoon. All but three ships were lost. Your ship, one of the three, limped out of the storm days off course, sails shredded, and almost certainly under pursuit.
This morning the mist returned.
This is the recruitment thread for a new pathfinder Pbp game to be held here on the Paizo boards. The campaign is a homebrew one that has been played all the way through once before in a face to face setting. After years of playing Adventure Paths and other fairly linear gaming experiences I wanted to try my hand at something with a bit more sandbox but no less story to be discovered. This is what I came up with.
The Game will start at second level with the players as members of a military unit that recently experienced an unprecedented and devastating set back. Players can be soldiers, scouts, specialists or support personnel, junior officers, crown liaisons or pretty much anything else that you can think of and make fit.
The majority of the campaign will take place in a sparsely inhabited peninsula blanketed in deep, pristine temperate rain forest dotted only lightly by a handful of settlements and cultures. Think British Columbia prior to settlement. Threats will be omnipresent, initially resources are scarce and players will have to rely on their ingenuity and a few critical contacts and connections if they are going to survive. Will your characters strive every day to return to the land they know or will they carve a new home out of this daunting land with untold promise.
Campaign Themes: The campaign will be heavily wilderness based with the potential for semi-frequent sojourns into ancient ruins and the occasional sprawling lair. There will be very, very little in the way of “Urban” adventure as there are no traditional cities to speak of. That does not mean there aren’t civilizations to engage with. There will be a number of well-developed villages, tribes, and other groups that will be critical to any ongoing success and survival. Deep roleplaying and social connection with each other and NPCs will be not only encouraged, it will really be required.
What I am looking for: I am looking for 4 or perhaps 5 players for the campaign. I am looking for players who are comfortable with a semi sandbox experience and who are willing and able to post at a pretty good clip. I will shoot for at least two (frequently more) posts a day (less on weekends potentially) and would hope for players that can manage the same. I don’t mind players who are new to pbp but I would hope you would read a few game threads and familiarize yourself with the format and techniques. At this time I am not really looking for people who aren’t fairly well versed in pathfinder rules.
Character Creation:
As mentioned characters will start at second level.
Abilities will be determined by standard 20 point buy. No abilities under 8 or over 18 AFTER racial adjustments. I do place non-mechanical importance on ability scores to some extent. You don’t have to play the village idiot if you drop your intelligence to 9 but if you are going to play your character as a cunning mastermind or debonair charmer you should probably allocate your abilities in a way that reflects that.
Hit points are max at first level and average +1 at subsequent levels.
Alignments are not limited but you have to be able to function as a cohesive group. If you want to play evil keep that in mind and explain to me how you will keep it from being a detriment. On the other side if you want to play a paladin or virtuous cleric keep in mind that your character is a human and not a code of conduct. If your character is so rigidly bound to their code that they can’t function with the group that’s going to be a problem also.
Classes are anything from a Paizo source. I will CONSIDER third party material but I am not likely to put in an entire new rules system from third party systems.
Races I will allow any core race. Other races are not ruled out but you will need to get it approved.
Each players starts with two traits and no drawbacks. Traits can be from any paizo source but if it’s a campaign trait be prepared to alter it to make it fit.
Standard wealth for level (1000 gp) at this point but I will be using automatic bonus progression as laid out here (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/other-rules/automatic-bonus-progress ion) going forward. So keep that in mind if it impacts your character
Skills: We will use the background skills alternate rule as laid out here http://www.d20pfsrd.com/skills/background-skills. All the skills you would expect for a wilderness campaign will be important including survival, knowledge (nature), handle animal etc. As in all campaigns Perception will be extremely useful but so will Sense Motive and Diplomacy. I also strongly encourage a craft skill or two. There will be times you will be hard pressed to find equipment for sale and being able to make your own will give you a leg up.
Backgrounds and character are important. Tell me who your character is, what are they like, what drives them and how did they come to this point. I don’t need pages and pages of material but make sure what you provide brings your character to life. I have intentionally left details of the world and army pretty sparse up to this point so that you can create what you want for your character. If things need to be adjusted for consistency we will do so before we start but I am not terribly worried about that at this point.
I will be using roll 20 for handouts, maps, images etc. Familiarity with that program is a plus but not required.
Recruitment will remain open until the 14th of October. At that point I will close down recruitment and start choosing characters. It may take me a day or two from that point to make selections but I will shoot for starting play early the week of the 19th.
I am happy to answer any questions and provide guidance throughout the recruitment process!
