[OPEN] D&D 5e: Secrets of the Greenwold

SET-UP FOR THE CAMPAIGN:
Desperate the get out of the crumbling, ancient city of Mara for various reasons, the party has accepted jobs as caravan guards for the 20-day journey to the great coastal city of Grayhaven in the western lands of the Greenwold. The frontier of the Greenwold still has unexplored, wild places, ancient ruins, monstrous domains, and a vast, magical forest ripe with possibilities for adventure, so getting paid to travel to this distant city is a welcome bit of good fortune. The fact that the caravan master made a grammar mistake in the poster doesn't concern you; many people in Mara don't bother learning to read...


GAME OVERVIEW:
This is a D&D 5e game, running through the first thirteen modules of the Dungeon in a Box campaign produced by David Crennen, called "Secrets of the Greenwold." In this campaign, the PCs will have the opportunity to progress from lowly caravan guards to mighty heroes of renown as they travel through the region and beyond.

WHAT TO EXPECT:
Though the set-up of the game is bleak - you are all down-on-your-luck neophyte heroes with no job prospects in a dead-end city - this is is an epic campaign, built around over-the-top encounters, quirky NPCs, and a wild plot that the characters will slowly uncover as they get drawn into events that will determine the future of the region. It is full of new creatures, magic items, and sentient races. There are many optional encounters in each adventure in the campaign, but like most pre-written campaigns, this is not a sandbox or a West Marches-style game where the heroes can wander and decide which plot to pursue. The consequences of avoiding the major encounters would be disastrous for the Greenwold and, ultimately, the world.

When played face-to-face, at a table, this campaign takes at least twelve long sessions to complete; for most groups, that probably translates to twenty-four 4-hour sessions. This means it will likely take a year or more on Gamers Plane.

Assuming the characters survive the many challenges, the campaign will take the PCs from L1 to L10.

This game will be played entirely on Gamers Plane. It is open to D&D 5e players of all experience levels.

However, the DM will be posting once a day, unless the group requests to have time off for particular holidays/vacations/life events. In case a player cannot post or thinks they may not be able to post on a particular day or stretch of days, they are encouraged to provide instructions on their character sheet for general tactics/default actions/"what their character will do," in case the adventure takes the party into encounters while the player is absent.

JOINING THE GAME
There is a recruitment thread; players should reply in that thread if they are interested in joining this game.
If there are more interested players than PC slots available, the DM will choose which players get invitations by creating a table and rolling dice.
Once the game has begun, if any players have to drop out, the DM will re-open the recruitment thread and ask people to express interest again.

RULES
The following Dungeons & Dragons 5e optional rules will be used:
climb onto a bigger creature – DMG pg. 271
disarm – DMG pg. 271
overrun – DMG pg. 272
shove aside – DMG pg. 272
cleaving through creatures – DMG pg. 272
Level Advancement without XP - DMG pg. 261

Players may use the following optional rule when generating characters:
Starting wealth - PHB pg. 143

No other optional or variant rules from fifth edition D&D will be used.
However, there are new spells, mechanics, and items that will be introduced over the course of the campaign. This may include new options for characters, but if any such are made available, they will be added organically as the campaign progresses, not at character generation.

We will not be using alignment, in favor of playing to the characters' traits, bonds, ideals, and flaws.