Session Zero

The name is on the tin. Lets start dicussing your characters and their backstories. Both will be really important to the style of DMing that I want to try for the game. Feel free to add elements to the world as part of your characters backstory and include some gameable material as well, plot hooks etc. Finally, I am keen to find out what each of you are hoping to get from the game or what you are most looking forward to.

Thanks for having me on Whistler.

As far as character mechanics go, you wanted us to roll our stats, will that be straight 4d6, 4d6 with aces rerolled, or 3d6?

You might want to create a new thread (or sub-forum) just for setting details, I'm planning on the Gnome community to be nothing outlandish for Svirfneblin: Hides in the underdark, bent on acquiring knowledge (and precious stones). You mentioned there is far less danger compared to Faerun underdark, which leads to more devotion to study. Warriors are still required, which is what my character is, at least for their "day job", they are just as knowledge-hungry with their spare time. Depending on the geography, I think it would make sense for the Gnomes to be aware of humans, ultimately deciding to keep to themselves. (of course I am open to changing this). I am skimming details or haven't considered some, please ask any questions.

How will you handle languages? Every race can speak common RAW, which I'm assuming is the language of humans as well, will you be playing that straight or have a language barrier in play?

Regarding what I'm looking forward to: probably just how things will turn out, big fan of seeing a story/worldbuilding come together. I do wonder in particular how our characters will first meet.

Since this is my first time doing this lets just go straight 4d6 but you can take the standard array if you are unhappy with the results. Just keep in mind that the deep gnome population at this point would be two to 5 small family units at most, we arent talking Blingdenstone here. The Underdark is still relatively safe at the start of the game, posing no more danger than the deep places of our own world. With languages, the humans speak common and I will leave it up to you as to whether you are up for the RP challenge of a language barrier (being a Linguistics grad, it does appeal to me). If you would prefer the deep gnomes to remain hidden from humans for now that is certainly doable but your character will need to have a reason to travel to Esterwyn. All the characters will meet up there during an...event.

Okay, I think I won't impose a language barrier because the challenge seems irritating to work around. For travelling depending on the distance it could be to explore in the pursuit of knowledge about the surface.

This has been asked before, but to what extent are humans aware of other races, and the fantastical races to each other?

Edit: Hot rolls.

Hmm let's see how this goes...

So thats 8,8,10,12,15,17. I think I can work with that!

Humans know nothing about the other races outside of legends and the like. The other races know what they have been able to gather about humans since they reawakened.

My idea for the elves is that there was a mass exodus of the elves a thousand or so years ago. They magically traveled to this universe's version of the feywild (I'm thinking the Primal Wilds for the name) to reconnect with their fey roots or to escape from some long forgotten conflict. Upon reaching the Primal Wilds, they started to settle there, but the nature of the plane made creating a civilization almost impossible. The elves split into several groups. The High Elves embraced their magical nature and carved out civilized patches in the Wilds, protected by powerful shields to prevent them from being reclaimed. The Wood, or Wild, Elves, who embraced the magic of their new home and lived in small nomadic groups who explored the plane. And finally, the Dark Elves, who embraced the darker, more savage, denizens of the Wilds and brought them under their rule. The Wood elves became guardians of the Wilds, protecting it from their destructive and controlling cousins.

Wynn came from a family group of Druids and Rangers who protected their lands from the mages of a nearby High-Elven city. One day, one of their scouts came into the camp reporting that the High-elves were attempting to reach out to the mortal realm. It was decided that if they contacted the Humans, they may enlist them as reinforcements in defeating the other Elves. Calling on their abilities and allies in the Wilds, Wynn and his family assaulted the city in the dead of night. Their plan was to reach the enemy portal and close it, and if the opportunity presented itself, one of them would go through to utilize the High Elves's plan against them.

The battle was long and hard, but they reached the portal. Wynn and his brothers fought against the Elven ambassadors, slaying all but one who managed to slip through at the last second with Wynn on his heels. Wynn and the ambassador were whipped through the cosmos, and when he awoke, he was lying in a field with sore ribs and a dead elf beneath him. He buried his enemy and set off to the nearest Human settlement, hoping to get aid for the war that must be being waged back home.

(An accomplished Druid in his home plane, Wynn discovers that his powers a greatly diminished in the mortal realm. Here, he has to exert much more energy to perform even the simplest of Druidic magic.)

Here go my stat rolls

I think I'll stick with standard array.

That sounds pretty good to me and the ideal of an elven civil war is interesting. You would have left the plane as there was not enough magic to sustain the race. Moving to a different plane with a greater connection to magic makes sense.

Hey all! Proper post to come tomorrow! Rolls for now.

So 15, 13, 12, 12, 11, 13. I can work with that!

Rolling up some stats:

So 15, 15, 15, 11, 10, 5.

Ouch on the 5, this character's clearly had some kind of deformity, mishap or disease that's seriously affected them. The rest of their stats are nice and strong, so I can work with that. :)

My character grew up in Esterwyn. Her parents were moderately successful merchants, and she loved talking with the traders and ship's captains who visited about their travels around the world. Sadly, at the age of nine she was afflicted with a wasting disease that left her weak and bed-ridden for most of her childhood. In order to help her pass the time, her parents started bringing home books. She became a voracious reader, and over time showed a particular interest in tales of mythology and magic. Indulging her, her parents used their trading connections to track down ever more esoteric tomes of obscure magical rites.

Eventually she recovered from her illness well enough to rejoin the wider world. Her quest for further knowledge led her to Esterwyn University, where she studied history and, at her parents' urging, law. She wrote her Master's thesis on the influences of occultism and magical thinking in common law.

One day, she was working on a particularly difficult translation of an ancient text with an unusual idiolect, and grew increasingly frustrated. On a whim, and mainly to relieve her tension and refocus her mind, she performed a ritual recalled from one of her childhood books, and felt a strange tingling power flow through her. On completing the ritual, she found she was able to read the text as easily as if it was written in her own words. This was a total paradigm shift in her entire outlook - magic was undeniably real.

Immediately, she began searching for other magical evidence: strange events reported in newspapers and magazines, investigations of purported miracles in religious journals, and even the tavern stories of sailors visiting the city. Everything she found she kept, catalogued and cross-referenced in meticulous detail. She practiced her magical rituals diligently, and gradually put together a book of everything she had mastered.

I like the backstory and don't worry she will be part of what is happening :)

Rolling my character's stats:

My character, Elendin, is a young human female from a family of prominent stone artisans in the small city of Glossmire. Her talent is considerable - far superior to that of her older or younger brother - and her all-consuming desire is to become a renowned sculptor rather than take her expected place as a craftswoman in the family business. After many fights, copious pleading, and more than a few tears, Elendin had convinced her parents to send her to Esterwyn to study with her hero, master artist Leonin Morelli. The bargain stated that she could spend two years studying with Master Leonin, and if after that time, he pronounced her to have a real future as a fine artist, she could pursue her chosen path. If the Master's judgment was less favorable, however, she would return to Glossmire to resume working as the family's most accomplished stone artisan.

That was almost two years ago, and Elendin's talent has further blossomed under Master Leonin's tutelage. In fact, it was widely considered a given that she would be living out the rest of her days as a visionary sculptor and not toiling back home in Glossmire. But that was before the Magic of Old returned to the world.

Elendin still isn't sure exactly what happened, or why it happened to her. She knows only that she was in the Master's studio, working with several other apprentices under his direction on his latest sculpture, when a strange sensation of heat formed in her belly and quickly built in intensity until she feared she would spontaneously combust. With a strangled shriek, she had thrust out her hands without even intending to do so, and a burst of fiery energy erupted from her palms. She collapsed to the floor, and when she was able to lift her head, she was astonished to see that half of the sculpture - a life-size marble horse in mid-gallop - now lay as rubble on the floor.

Master Leonin's other students had taken cover and now looked at Elendin in abject terror, but Leonin himself was more livid than fearful, banning her from the studio immediately. A few weeks later, he had summoned her back. By now, stories were arriving with incoming travelers of other strange events, and people were starting to talk about the return of gods and the Magic of Old.

Had it happened again since the incident in the studio, he asked. She quickly said it hadn't, but under his stern glare, admitted that she had accidentally set fire to the curtains in her room at the inn. In her sleep.

Leonin was as kind as a hugely famous and arrogant artist could be, but he made it clear that he couldn't keep her on as an apprentice. Art is a delicate undertaking, and whatever was happening to her was uncontrolled and destructive.

And just like that, Elendin's dreams were shattered. Her family have sent several letters, having heard about the wild incident in the studio, but she has burned all the letters and refused to respond. She won't go back to Glossmire, no matter what her parents say. She's been cheated of her destiny, and all she wants in life is to find out how to rid herself of these horrible and inconvenient powers.

Hey Whistler! In order to get going on backstory, could i bounce a few questions off of you?

I can totes work with the amesiac angel angle. But how did I come into the world? Was I born naturally, or did I arrive as a fully formed adult?

What's the social/political/economic dynamic of the region like? Are we on a generally Earth like society with a monarchy, powerful noble families, merchants, and peasants? Is there one major church /politically powerful religious institution a la the Catholic Church and the Papacy?

Dnd can be a combat heavy system. Are we going to be more fighty, or more politicky in this arc of the game?

My general instinct for the character would be him having a driving impulse to assess and infiltrate the political / religious power structure of the region with a goal of preparing it to welcome back the gods - or failing that to be able to brief the gods on the strengths and weaknesses they need to target to win over the populace.

Alternatively he could be a rabble rouser type working to bring faith to the poorest and at the same time destabilising the church/political institutions that have hijacked religious trappings to buttress political power.

Finally, if the gods are coming back, are the monsters back too? I could take the Cassandra angle and be a prophet of dire tidings that everyone ignores... until it's too late.

Just going to put up the stats here and say the character is a human Cleric who worship the goddess of magic so will also have the ability to use low level magic spells. More later.

That should work. 16, 16, 11, 11, 14, 13

Backstory is complete, not terribly original but I had fun with it. I imagine Balara would be discovered not too long after arriving in Esterwyn.

Born and raised in the Underdark, Balara knew little of the outside world. Her family survive by intuition and intelligence, using what meager resources they had to sustain their way of life. Everyone contributed to success; learning together, fighting together, or building together. Other creatures existed within the depths, some smart some primal, but her family had no interest getting involved.

Over the years Balara herself took an interest to learning and understanding the ways of those who came before. She saw the symbols carved on rock, the lost manuscripts left by people long before her, they were her guide, her teacher. They spoke of history, ancient magics, and most importantly: the world above, of it's wonder and life; this was simply too important to ignore. Presenting her findings to her family was met with opposition. "Why should we? We can thrive down here, the world above harbors nothing but destruction." Their words cut her deeply, but no matter, in the end she would see it done.

She would sneak out, finding the ancient highways to the surface. Eventually she made it, and at the time her emotions were almost too much to bear. What is this? Or that? How does it work, what purpose does it serve? This wasn't her last visit, and over time she felt the surface calling her. But the humans, that was the danger. Such fearsome creatures, as dangerous as her family claimed. She was eager to discover their way of life. She took quite a liking to their weapons in particular, as unwieldy as some were.

Too much time was invested in this venture, and her family confronted her about such activities. Balara saw anger and disappointment, but understanding too. And so they helped her, preparing her in whatever way they could for a proper journey. The next step will be her boldest yet: Infiltrate a settlement. The community of 'Esterwyn' seems ripe for such a task...

We are just waiting for a few character sheets and some backstories and we'll get started.