Oh man, during that whole game, but especially during the seemingly-endless rail-car chase, I just kept thinking 'This whole thing would be over by now if any of us rolled up an Evoker'. XD
I was on a bug two-weapon kick at the time and I thought that build was gonna be hot. But now? Meh, didn't really like it. I keep thinking 2WF is gonna break the game, but I keep getting reminded that Two-handers or 1H+shield are quite fine. ^_^
Yes, didn't we have a kineticist at some point? He would have been useful, but yeah a full-on Evoker would have been handy. But then, everything's better with wizards, as long as they don't get cocky about it...
Agree on 2WF. I think what keeps them humble is that it only works as a full-round action: did you move to attack? Did you opponent move more than a 5 ft step away? No 2WF for you this round! Or, as a certain president might have said, It's the [action] economy, stupid!
I haven't posted because I don't have much yet. I have a concept of a Barding who's tied to the Woodland realm through his mother, who was a Woodperson. For reasons, she left and settled in Laketown, where my character was born. He grew up there and then in Dale once it was built (he may have helped with that in some way).
He's recently decided to go and find his roots (pun most definitely NOT intended) and is either at, or on his way to, Rhosgobel to see if anyone has any records of his mother's family.
That is literally as far as I've got. I may end up being That Guy who waits to see what everyone else is doing before deciding on a class. Of course, that only works if everyone else has a build in mind!
The situation sucks. I'm fine, but I know plenty of people who aren't.
100% this. Patients are dying because there aren't enough ventilators; healthcare workers are dying because there's not enough personal protective equipment. People who aren't sick are suddenly unemployed and wondering how the hell they're going to pay their mortgage, their rent, their food bills.
Our resident troll (or perhaps I should say one of our resident trolls, for we are blessed with several) deciding that the real "not cool" problem here is people not buying pdf's is a stunningly bad hot take. Social distancing does NOT mean "alienate everyone around you by displaying a breathtaking lack of empathy."
In the immortal - and possibly apocryphal - words of C.S. "Jack" Lewis: "not another f**king elf, Tolkien!"
Going with an Elf wanderer (maaaybe a scholar) with the Emissary background. Most likely a Mirkwood elf, but am considering a Rivendell elf who is travelling East of the Misty Mountains - if DMDM will permit that.
Mirkwood elf probably makes more sense but am still playing around with ideas.
Can you say anything about what characters the existing players are planning to run with? If you have a surplus of Beorning slayers or Woodmen scholars that would be useful information.
Ooh, will have to watch that (if only to see where I've got it wrong :/)
Ok, the wait is over. Firstly, an apology: I wasn't able to take everyone. Only world-class DMs like Tolkien can run a party of that size. That said, this was NOT easy.
@gyrfalcon - looks good. I'm happy for you to have Radagast in your background; he doesn't appear too much in the Wilderland campaign so the fact that your character starts out knowing him isn't an issue. I agree that Lure of the Road (or more likely in this case Lure of the Trackless Path Through the Forest) is a more appropriate background than Loyal Servant.
@Elbow - understood, but I will be closing recruitment today regardless. I have over a dozen completed submissions to go through already, and only four slots.
A Neutral deity has a curse that's really nasty, not nice, not cool, hurts feelings, aw aw aw. What did you people expect, "no ice cream except for weekends"?
Dammit, now I just spent like 10 minutes thinking about which of the established Golarion deities might have that "no ice cream except for weekends" as their curse...
To be fair, there are only like... Six or so names suggested for female Dúnedain.
You think that's bad? There are more suggested names for horses of Rohan than there are for female Riders of Rohan.
Had not noticed that. That is... well, it's partly hilarious and partly really sad.
@EverAnon - another high-quality submission! This is getting silly now. It's obviously early on in the chargen process, but do you have any thoughts on "discovery" (for want of a better term)? Is it something you want to happen? Something you're not interested in exploring? Or no preference? And to answer your questions, yes you can swap the two proficiencies around - but you'll feel pretty silly if you run into a locked door at 1st or 2nd level :P
@Black Dow - I'm mostly selecting on character, to be honest, although I don't actually intend to pick a group consisting entirely of scholars. I'm not going to say you can't change your choice, but if I do it sort of opens the door for everyone. Let me think about it before I give you a final answer.
@Sarah - good submission. I especially like the way you tied the weather-sense ability into her backstory to explain it. I'm generally NOT in favour of 1st-level characters taking honorifics or titles (you're 1st level, after all) but in this case I see that you took the King's Guard Cultural Virtue so it's probably OK. In the case of Horses v Mirkwood, I find for the plaintiff for now. In the aftermath of the Battle of Five Armies, the Shadow has temporarily retreated and the Elf-king has greater control of the forest: the Elf-paths are currently wide enough to allow travel by horse. (For now. In the not-too-distant future, this will change.) But on no account will Horsie leave the path - not that you should, either. And yes, you can "swap out" any redundant proficiency, but it must be replaced with something reasonably equivalent - in this case, ideally another Wisdom-based skill that someone with the Lure of the Road background would have. Please don't push your luck and take something completely unrelated, like Riddle or Sleight of Hand.
@Timeskeeper - agreed, I don't see anyone trying to redo them for a good long while (and when/if they do, I suspect they'll go the Netflix/streaming route and do it in 1-hour episodes). If they wait long enough, maybe Sean Bean could be cast as Gandalf ("Yes, Sean, your character dies - again - but this time he gets better")!
@Spazmodeus - true, but your character's foresight ability gives you more of a handwave since it lets them know stuff the other characters wouldn't have access to, so it's a very minor edit :-)
Thanks for the summary of dates (I love that you provide not just the month but the precise date for the Battle of Five Armies!), I do what I can but I occasionally lose track :-)
Our game starts in 2946, so Aragorn is 15 at the time. Given that each adventuring phase takes a year it's entirely possible that we'll get to his coming of age (the Mirkwood campaign spans 30 years, or as the Elves call it, a "short nap").
And yeah, the thing that really dates LOTR is the shortage of female protagonists. I think Jackson did a good job on expanding both Arwen and Eowyn's roles in the films, so they're more than just ciphers - it almost (almost) makes up for his mangling of Faramir's characterisation, a deed that still makes me quietly wrathful whenever I think about it.
So many good submissions, many rich with Tolkien lore. Wastrel, I don't envy you the task of winnowing them down!
Tell me about it!
@Spazmodeus - looks good. You need to pick a starting Virtue I think as I didn't see one listed.
@Trscroggs - also looks good.
@Timeskeeper - interesting background, although at the time this is set, Aragorn has only just been born (I think) and doesn't even know who he is - it's only when he comes of age that Elrond tells him of his true identity. You might need to rejig that section slightly. Also, although your mighty oath is "doable" that doesn't mean it's achievable, or even that the other PCs will be as interested as you are in fulfilling it. Do you have a plan for what to do if the game doesn't go in that direction? (Also, please don't apologise for dyslexia - I'm glad my glib comments, for which I do apologise, didn't put you off from applying.)
@gyrfalcon - looks good so far, I look forward to reading the rest.
Any plan that has, as a crucial component, "I will annoy the god of kung fu to the point that he smites me with the worst curse that he has" might have a flaw.
I just can't quite put my finger on it.
On other topics: that is - by far - the best portait of Shelyn I have seen to date.
(thejeff): unknown
(gyrfalcon): some options mooted, no decision yet
(Timeskeeper): Dunedain Wanderer
(Sarah): Rider of Rohan
(Elbow): possible mounted combatant
Ha, I could almost make a party entirely consisting of Scholars!
Don't think I've missed anyone, but shout out if I have.
@Vrog - I'm selecting based on characters, not on their stats. I don't need to see a character sheet at this stage. And you're definitely starting at 1st level: this is a highly-modified variant of a game system I'm not hugely familiar with.
@Helaman - that works, although I think it means it means he was 15 at the Battle of Five Armies (assuming my math is right)?
@Therenger - not a problem! I was vaguely thinking about making a separate alias for this campaign so I could put useful 5e and Middle-Earth links into the profile for future reference (probably something inane like "DM Wandering Loremaster"), so go with the avatar of your choice :-)
@Decimus - I'd overlooked that. Good to know.
@Timeskeeper - that is a Mighty Oath! It's suitably epic, and it's at least as doable as "we will vanquish the Dragon and reclaim our long-forgotten gold" so go for it.
@Everyone - It's been ~48 hours since I opened recruitment and I've had a flood of high-quality applications. I know some of you (Sarah, Black Dow, Timeskeeper, and a few others) haven't yet posted complete applications so I will keep it open for a few more days. I'm currently thinking that Friday will be closing day, but if anyone absolutely needs more time than that please let me know asap.
@Helaman - yes, it's 5 years after the Battle of Five Armies. I like the background, but could do with maybe some description of what he looks like.
@Decimus - that works. Also, did you really mean to say he's 4'8" and not 5'8"? That's not much taller than a dwarf...
@Therenger - that's all wonderful grist to the roleplay mill, but what I was trying to ask is "what does he look like?" (If we knew one another slightly better, I'd add "Describe him, m'f***er" and trust you to get the Samuel L Jackson reference but that's the sort of remark that could cause problems if the person on the receiving end hasn't watched the same films)
@Helaman - no problem, recruitment will be open for a while.
@Vrog - noted, thanks.
@Decimus - looks good! (I didn't need a completed character sheet but I have no objection to it). He's very much not a combatant, is he ^_^ My only real comment is that the Seeker of the Lost background suggests that your character is seeking something in particular - do you have any thoughts on what that might be?
@Therenger - looks good, although I don't think Hobbits start with a Cultural Virtue (don't have the book with me right now); and I can't see much by way of actual description, other than "taller than most hobbits, handsome and personable" (which are fairly subjective terms).
Also, it's going to be a point buy for stats, not a dice roll.
IMPORTANT NOTICE - I said previously that I want you to tell me why your character is in Dale, but I'm changing things up slightly. For convenience I have decided that your characters are in Dale in answer to King Bard's proclamation inviting people to join him in rebuilding and reclaiming the North.
Exactly why your character has decided to do that - out of all the other things they could be doing - is for you to tell me.
@Elbow - at least one other character is applying with a Rider of Rohan so mounted combat is a definite possibility. The other sourcebooks are a steal for 15 USD but are not required. There's a couple that have alternate Cultures (Rivendell elves and Blue Mountain dwarves) if those are of interest.
@Jubal - "because I can" is a fine reason! No reason to readjust or rewrite their age. Be interesting to see how such an old character responds to having mortal companions :)
@Sarah - sounds good, I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
@Therenger - look forward to reading your submission.
@Black Dow - so, you think Ónar will survive the adventures I set for you, huh? Ambitious :) Your submission looks fine so far, although Smaug devastated Erebor in 2770, so Ónar must have been born elsewhere in 2883 - maybe in the Blue Mountains?
@Timeskeeper - I like the idea, there's definitely scope to work with that. I look forward to reading the rest.
@Everyone - if I don't say anything to you specifically it's because I haven't any comments right now, but rest assured I have read your posts.
@Black Dow - always good to find another Joe Abercrombie fan :) Dwarf Wanderer sounds like a good concept, I look forward to reading your pitch. Note that only Humans get a virtue at 1st level, so that's one less thing for you to have to decide! (also, Durin's Way is hugely thematic but I don't see a lot of scope for underground fighting in this campaign, at least to start with)
@Jubal - heh. I didn't even notice the awkwardness until you pointed it out: I automatically just read it as his mother and his lover both perished in the same battle (English is fun like that). Your concept looks fine, although the Player's Guide suggests a starting age for Mirkwood elves between 100 and 500 and you've gone significantly over that. It's not a deal-breaker by any means, but I was wondering if you had any particular reason for it?
@gyrfalcon - someone else with more experience of 5e might want to chip in here, but it looks like the highest stat you can possibly start with using point buy is 17 (buy a stat of 15, and play something like an Elf that gets +2). In view of that, starting with a 14 or 15 doesn't look too problematic to me (nice contrast to PF1 where you'd be crazy to start with your key stat at anything less than 16). You can always push it up by 2 when you get to 4th level.
@Vrog - thanks for taking it on the chin and coming back for more :) New concept looks more in line with what I'm thinking. My only thought is the age of your character: if his daughter was old enough to be apprenticed to a wizard (say 16 or so) and then it took, what, 18 months or so for the rumours to get back to him (there's no regular mail service in Middle-Earth) she's probably closer to 18 by now - which would make your Captain around 38 years old. Per the Player's Guide, each adventuring phase lasts a year or so, so he'd be 40 reasonably soon, which is the suggested age for retirement for Human characters. I won't be militant about enforcing that, but equally you can't just ignore age as a factor. Would you be open to changing it so she's his niece - say, the daughter of his older brother? Let me know what you think.
I'm noting my interest here and I do indeed have a copy of the player's guide. Thinking a Man of Bree, who has become interested in the tales of travellers and wishes to see this Dale for himself. He is a would-be scholar, perhaps even a master scholar one day. Friendly and inquisitive, while no magician, he does know something of the arts of the folk healer.
Sounds like a good character concept (and thanks for posting the 5e links for me in the other thread). Dale isn't a repository of great lore - although it could become so if enough master scholars settle there! - but it is conveniently close to Erebor, which now has one of the finest libraries outside the sanctuaries of the Wise. Of course, most non-dwarves aren't permitted anywhere near it, but if sufficient service were rendered, then who knows?
@Everyone - I'm thinking of going with Wilderland Adventures, simply because it is the only one that actually starts at first level. I'm not hugely sold on the later bits of that AP, but I would hope that by the time we get that far the PCs are driving more and more of the plot.
In other words, and without giving too much away, you start in Dale (probably - ideally - in response to King Bard's proclamation/invitation) but almost immediately travel through Mirkwood and into the realm of the Beornings.
@Vrog - that backstory is... pretty much everything I'm NOT looking for (sorry to be so blunt, but it saves time). Try again?
@gyrfalcon - Recruitment will run until it doesn't. The Humble Bundle ends in around 10 days so I will probably wrap this up about the same time, unless I'm overrun with submissions. On the other hand, if people still need more time to put a character concept together (and there is a lot to take on board) then I'm open to extending that deadline. Either way, I will let everyone know at least 48 hours in advance once I decide to close recruitment.
Thanks for your interest so far, and keep the posts coming!
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Anyone applying to this thread MUST have a copy of Cubicle 7's 5e Middle-Earth Player’s Guide (available for 1 dollar here).
This is a 5e campaign set in Middle-Earth: it uses a bunch of new rules from the aforementioned Player’s Guide. I don’t think it’s fair to ask anyone to write up an entire character sheet, but I do need to be able to select a good group of heroes. If you’re applying to this game, please post the following information into this thread using the spoiler format below for ease of reading (please also look at the information in the spoilers below before proceeding further):
CHARACTER NAME
Outline of Mechanics/character choices:
Please list the following:
What Culture your character is from (if you want to play a Culture not in the player’s guide, please point me to which sourcebook it’s in and be aware that the answer might be ‘no’).
What Class you intend to play.
If you already know which Specialty/Path/Archetype you want to take (e.g. Agent/Burglar for the Treasure Hunter class), please list that as well.
If you know what Virtue you intend to start with (if applicable), please list that as well.
The Background you have selected (note that you DON’T need to write the background – although see the Description spoiler below – you just need to let me know which one you’re picking); plus the Distinctive Quality, Specialty, Hope and Despair that you are going for. You can either roll dice for these or choose them, I don’t mind.
Description:
This is where you sell me on your character. I don’t need much more than a couple of paragraphs, but you should at least weave together the background, distinctive quality, hope and despair in some coherent fashion.
Tell me why your hero has found themselves in Dale in the year 2946 of the Third Age. Tell me who they are, beyond their bare statistics: their quirks, habits, appearance, mannerisms; bring them to life.
Requirements/Comments/Questions:
This is where you post anything you want me to know about you the player, or any questions you have for me.
I have the following comments, so please read them carefully to avoid any unfortunate misunderstandings later down the line.
* Unfamiliarity breeds error. I have not used the 5e game system nearly as much as the PF1/3.5 game systems. Please be kind to me if/when I make any mistakes with the rules.
* This game won’t play itself. From what I have read it looks like – more than most PbP games – this game requires significant input from the player characters in order to keep going. The Fellowship phase is almost entirely player-driven, and the last thing I as DM want to be doing is chasing you to ask “what now? What now?” What really warms my heart is when I log in from my previous posting and see that the PCs have not been idle in my absence. Conversely, logging in to see that there are no new posts feels like the entire weight of the game is on me to move it forward (if you’re a DM, you’ll understand; if you’re not, you’ll just have to take my word for it). The more work you put in to create and play an interesting character, the more opportunity you have for interaction with the other characters. Which makes me happier and more excited about posting. Which creates more opportunities for you to post. It’s a virtuous cycle.
* Middle-Earth needs heroes. I enjoy fantasy noir, greyscale morality plays and nihilistic treatises (looking at you, Joe Abercrombie) as much as the next person, but Tolkien’s work is based on moral absolutes and the struggle against the Shadow and I intend to be faithful to that spirit. To that end, I want characters with a nobility of purpose - yes, even (or perhaps especially?) those with the Reluctant Adventurer background. Committing misdeeds will bring you Shadow Points. Antiheroes, brigands, murderhobos and ne’er-do-wells: leave now and never come back.
* You cannot do this alone. Imagine if Beorn had turned the dwarves away and refused to help them. Or if Lórien had closed its borders to the Fellowship. Or if Merry and Pippin had alienated Treebeard, rather than befriending him. An investment in social skills (Tradition, Insight, Persuasion etc.) will reap dividends.
* Against the Shadow, there is no ultimate victory. Those who will accomplish the destruction of Sauron have – in most cases – not yet been born by the time our adventure starts. Your accomplishments will be minor by comparison, but you may yet change lives on an individual scale and bring a measure of peace for a brief time. Or not. The Enemy you face is dangerous indeed and your character may fail, and perish; and you need to be OK with that. I’m not one of those DMs who takes personal glee in killing off PCs – but I have limited scope to “fix” an unfortunately-timed critical or an unwise decision. In order to sweeten this slightly bitter pill, if your character dies and you’re a good sport about it and write them an end worthy of song, I’ll let your next character start with Inspiration. On which subject...
* Concerning Inspiration. It is my experience that players tend to hold onto consumables such as hero points rather than spend them. To try and remedy this, and make the game slightly less lethal, I am considering whether or not to allow players to accumulate Inspiration – up to a maximum of 3 points, let’s say – in order to encourage them to actually use it, and to allow more opportunities to earn it through fabulous role-play (virtuous cycles, again). Let me know what you think of this and in particular whether or not it’s likely to be too unbalancing to the game.
* Literacy is a thing. I know that not everyone here has English as a first language (and that many of you who don’t still write better than I could ever hope to) and occasional typos are human error; but if you consistently get mixed up between “their,” “they’re” and “there” then I’m going to end up chewing through my fingers when I read your posts. Please don’t make me do that.
If you’re still here after reading all that, then great. Let’s make a saga that the bards will still be singing in the Ages yet to come.
Will do! My only real concern (apart from petty things like RL time constraints) is my lack of familiarity with the 5e game engine.
It looks reasonably straightforward from what I can see, but as a DM I like to have a complete handle of the rules and I just don't have that in this case.
I'm seriously hooked, having spent most of the last few days reading several hundred pages of some of the best sourcebooks I have read in a long time. Tempted to say that I will run an adventure irrespective of what DMDM decides. It wouldn't be the Mirkwood campaign as DMDM has chosen that one.
If I decide to go through with this, I will set up a separate recruitment thread.
Reading the player's handbook, and DMDM's helpful summary in the spoiler above, makes me realise just how lethal this game is likely to be - a combination of 1st edition/red box D&D crossed with Call of Cthulhu, perhaps (the Shadow Points and Madness rules especially!).
Middle Earth is a dire and deadly place indeed. Sign me up.
I am definitely interested! That posting rate shouldn't pose a problem for me.
What might be an issue (and I leave it to DM discretion on this) is my - relative - lack of familiarity with 5e... hopefully, you're not the type to roll your eyes if I have a question and/or misapply a rule from the wrong edition, but I should probably put that out there from the outset in order to avoid issues further down the line.
The fate of most 1st-level characters who encounter Mythos-related scenarios is an unpleasant death (if they're lucky); IMO, there's a reason that even Paizo's Mythos AP doesn't bring the PCs into contact with much Mythos-related stuff in the first module. Add to that the fact that 1st level wizards are almost improbably squishy and you're probably looking at an encounter that took place once he'd reached 3rd level. This might also go a long way to explaining the arrogance - 1st level wizards run out of spells a lot and need to get used to running away (at least, in my campaigns; YMMV)... but a 3rd level wizard knows just enough to be a real danger to themselves and others ("I can cast Scorching Ray! Tremble, ye mighty and despair!").
So... suppose your wizard has reached 3rd level, which means he's been away adventuring a bit and accomplished a few things. He comes back to his hometown, possibly with a slight swagger in his step, and finds that something is off. Not much, just a bit, with someone close to him. Perhaps his nephew/niece has joined a religious group? You know which relative I mean - he doesn't have a lot of time for family, they get in the way of important things like studying, but this one (whose name he gets right more than half the time, which really shows he cares) isn't as impossibly stupid as the rest of them and even occasionally asks some questions that almost begin to appear intelligent. Since your wizard left town, this niece/nephew has started looking for answers elsewhere.
The religious group itself is fine: full of nice, smiley, amiable people. Harmless, really. But what a waste of a mind! Surely the thing to do is to accept niece/nephew's invitation to join them at their next meeting. After all, your wizard has a keen intellect: really, all that's needed is to expose these misguided people to the razor-sharp clarity that is pure reason.
What could possibly go wrong?
What's really going on:
The religious group is [SURPRISE!] a front. Or no, that's not quite right. It's a lure. Proclaim you have answers and you will attract three kinds of people: those looking for simple solutions to an otherwise complicated life; those like nephew/niece, who are bright enough to have questions they can't get answered from the usual authorities; and, ahhhh, if you're very, very lucky and/or have made the correct sacrifices/propitiation to the wrong sources, you will attract people like your wizard: someone bright enough to see through the initial guise, and juuuust sharp enough - as the saying goes - to cut themselves.
Welcome such people. Be open with them (away from other ears, of course) that there is more to the group than meets the eye; but explain that such initiation is not for the faint of heart, that they may discover more knowledge than they can handle.
And, if you do it just right, those people will volunteer to be initiated...
I assume the picture is how Golarion artists interpret the battle.
Because my understanding is that Desna didn't adopt a humanoid form until she encountered and came to love humanoid mortals. Who didn't exist back then.
Desna's clashed against Ghlaunder more than once. But also, she's a deity, and that allows her to reach out to alter our minds' ability to perceive her depictions even if those depictions were created before there were mortal minds to perceive in the first place.
Also if we illustrated her in her previous form no one would recognize her so that's not an option either.
EDIT: For the record, I've always envisioned Desna's pre-humanoid form to be more like a glowing light space moth. Think Mothra, but made out of stars and prismatic sprays and sparkles.
I LOVE MOTHRA DESNA!!!!!
Does anybody else want to see art of that?
Never mind art, I want the plushie!
That was some awesome storytelling from JJ the master. Truly we are not worthy. But...
...do you mean Asmodeus' version of the creation story is not in fact the whole and entire truth? I'm shocked, I tell you.
This is great! I'm planning (well, more hoping really, given the lack of free time I have right now) to run Carrion Crown as a PF2 game so this will save me masses of time with the conversion.
Thank you to all who brought this to the website so speedily!
I am stoked for that shed tail feat. Are iruxi long-lived? You talk of them having a culture that predates elves, so I was wondering.
Hmm
What does the antiquity of a civilization have to do with individual longevity?
There is still the open question of when to count an intelligent race as civilized, but I doubt that humans would agree that elves became civilized first.
I for one have hugely enjoyed this, especially your NPCs. If you make it back in future, please let me know as I will definitely submit a character to your recruitment thread (possibly even Morvius).
