[Recruiting] Heroes needed to stop the BBEG

Greetings everyone~

LegionChimera here to try and wrangle 5 players for a new D&D 5e game I want to start.
It is essentially the first adventure I tried to make and run when I first gave DMing a shot, and I'd love for it to have a proper ending.
I want to give a proper hook, but I feel that it might be better to let the game description to its work and let the story unfold naturally.
I will say this, however: there will be plenty of undead. So some avoidance of attacks or abilities that do not affect them is urged greatly.

Now, I'm still working on it for the most part, but I figured it'd be a good idea to see if there will be any bites. It should be good to go after the first week of February, so I'll give the thread until the 11th or so to see how many people are interested in playing.

About the game
Length: We're looking at a total of three acts. I had to really shore it up because I had it starting way to early for players originally.
Level: starting at 8th, players will gain a level with the completion of the first two acts, ending at 10th.
Special Rule: while other house rules will be posted in the games forum, the big one I want everyone to be aware of is that monsters will be different than normal. Using a special way of creating them via GiffyGlyph's monster maker rules, monsters and other enemies will be a bit like those in 4e: ranked and classed. Essentially, a group of bandits that might be encountered will be compromised of more than one style of bandit, maybe even with a few blade fodder.
The main reason for using these rules is to allow the party to fight enemies on their level, rather than when they can fight at the monster's (for example: a vampire at 11 CR down to say 9th level). These enemies will still be quite dangerous, so don't count on them not to be.
Other info will be supplied in game, or if there are questions to be asked here, I can answer them.
Za Warudo: We will be playing in my homebrew world with its own pantheon.

Oh, and before I forget, this game is very LGBTQ+ friendly~

Hope to see your responses soon!

I'm all for finishing games, so I'd love to apply with an orphaned character. :)

Talyn Vrinn: Drow chain warlock of the Celestial light! Called by a mysterious being of the Upper Planes to leave the murky Underdark and venture to the bright surface, Talyn seeks his true purpose while assisting others along the way and trying to balance the darkness and light within him. He's a bit cold but his heart is in the right place. His constant companion and servant is an imp Talyn calls Morden.

I would love join with this bladesinger wizard. A field scholar of what goes bump in the night, this elf lost her hand/arm early on in her career. She has a perturual Mage Hand formed on her stump. (No up- or downside to this handicap, just tell the story the image inspires)



I'll might edit the picture a bit, shorting the sword down as it is close to reduculess at that long length. It will be using rapier stats anyway

Oh the artist also made an image of her in a relationship with a tiefling, but as that contains frontal nudity I will not be linking directly to that. Only the artists page. But that relationship will be a part of her background

I would like to join, but I would also like to let any other player with less active games to be there instead. In any case I wouldn't define my PC until I know the hook, because I want my PC be to be hooked by the hook :). I love playing druids (with race typically associated with druid: human, elf or Firbolg), but they don't fit any scenario.

Note: I do like that you are planning to have custom monsters. It prevent some players having more meta info than other players. (I've DMed a few games for similar player level and may remember quite a few monsters from monster manual).

There are other monster manuals than the one from WotC. The Kodold Press Tome of Beasts(es) are rather popular. But, being published, they can fall into the same trap or being known.

Many of the older DnD Monster Manuals also have a lot more information, and might allow players to be presented with unexpected aspects of the monsters they think they know.

I don't get to play at the higher levels very often but I have quite a few games on my plate right now. Put me down as a definite maybe. I would likely go Divine Soul Sorcerer or Cleric of the Grave.

I'd like to join this game. Never got to play anything past lv 3 so this would be a great experience for me. I have no problem with avoiding undead specific abilities/spells either.

The issue isn't more so that the monsters will be known, it's more of a balance thing. Like, just to scale up and down enemies to be of the players' approximate power level as to give a fun fight, rather than load up the board with weaker enemies leagues below them or enemies that don't have weaker forms.

As a side note, the original system I used to run the game initially was 3.5e, so the BBEG was of a much lower CR than they are now.

Yeah, the balance at higher levels can be a problem.

I find the Monster Manual to be more useful for the fiction than the stat-blocks.

Oh definitely. I'm also not a huge fan of the written rules for making monsters. They feel very arbitrary and definitely require making/masking beforehand pre-session.

I never actually used them, and it has been a long time since I looked at them, but I thought they were OK adequate guidance as to where to start. The monsters in the book did not seem to follow those rules though. /scratchhead

I normally recommend just re-skinning a monster that the GM already knows works (not that there are many working monsters at these levels). The players never catch on that the stats and mechanics are identical to such-and-such. :)

But then, I am also know for using bog-standard goblins against level 10 parties. If something imposes clever tactics upon them they can present a substantial and fun challenge. Killing them is not hard, but that is also only a small part of the fun.

So how are ABI going to be determined? Based on what others are playing as I'm thinking I would make either a fighter or barbarian. My go to is warlock though.

I assume that these and more questions reguarding character creation will be answered when we are invited into the game. I am reluctant to start crafting my bladesinger wizard before I know that I am in the game.

Same, though I did try to make one earlier 😅. But I kept changing how I wanted the character. Rolled ABIs depending on the rolls, would make the process easier. That and knowing what is allowed or not allowed.

Well, if you want to have a rough idea, I'm actually thinking of using 2d6+6 and setting up a thread for the rolls in-game.

Also, to give a better plot-hook, here's what I'm willing to share to add on to the description above.

hey @AbbyssalChimera I have kickstarted Heliana's Guide To Monster Hunting: A 5e Supplement and, if you read the link, they will be releasing the first part of the beta book about monster hunting. When I get it, you could take a peak if there was anything there that could inspire you.

It certainly sounds interesting :? But how do you mean in terms of inspiration?

Just that you wanted to take the monsters in a different direction than "normal" D&D5e

When will you be inviting players?

Ahh, no, I think I'll be fine ^^ Thank you for the offer though! I think those rules might best serve something akin to a 5e game styled after The Witcher or The Slayer's Take from Critical Role.

I'm still working on a few things, so invites might go out either tonight just to get them out, or next weekend once I'm past work again and can give thing my full attention.
In the meantime, just to have some clarification, would everyone that's posted and is interested in playing please simply post "Aye." That's be a big help with simply going down the list.