Welcome (OOC Chat Area)

Definitely looking forward to where this game is headed. I'm pretty new to PbP with about 4 months or so, but one challenge I've seen across my games is there seems to be a lot of player attrition (and a fair amount of DM attrition). Hopefully 2 teams won't increase the challenge of that.

Adding my stats:

That is actually true then.
Wizard it is.

Mmm. It happens. Longest PbP game I ever ran was about three years (2015 - 2018), I loved almost every moment of it but it wound up dying when the most active of the players disappeared, shortly after a health warning that sort-of low key implied that he might've died on us. It was too demoralizing to go on after that, so I left that site for awhile. Recently came back and was doing exactly this, actually, both of these game concepts, but the site administrators had gone very soft and tried to censor my game over a post that you'll see me pop up in the Campaign Information section later today or tomorrow, regarding laws and customs within the kingdom you're starting in. It includes anti-rape laws that were, like just about all medieval laws, comparatively very slap-on-the-wrist to the nobility, and the admins were freaking out that I even used the scary R word (I cleared the language with Keleth before I nested here, he said whatever people want to do in private games isn't something he really weighs in on as long as everyone knows what they're getting into - which you now do). Nevermind that I posted the exact same text, word for word, in 2015 and nobody raised an eyebrow. :P

Sorry, still a bit of a touchy subject, if you can't tell. Anyway, their loss is your gain, and as long as none of you die or disappear on me and life doesn't incapacitate me in any way (huge knock on wood), there's no reason this game can't go until at least 2027.
Actually I think two stories is more motivating than one. Doesn't put all my eggs in one basket and risk that single disappearing player issue recurring.

Oh mighty DM insert necessary obeisance here, I'm a GenXer. Sticks and stones and all. If I cannot handle the heat, I will leave the kitchen, but allowing us the full gamut of our imaginations, suitably constrained into PG-13 with the occasional R, is just fine by me.

On that topic, what is your position on obscenities as intensifiers. In real life, I absolutely do not use obscenities. However, in game, depending on the grittiness or reality necessary, they may be warranted if not a plus in setting the tone. So:

1. Do you want the language to be G/PG/PG-13/R?
2a. This question applies to all the players: If obscenities are allowed/preferredm are you (DM and players) comfortable with self-censoring. As in "Kyle thought to himself: "What the F*** was that overweight dwarf with the glandular problem thinking! . Or would it need to be spelled out?

Great!

Rolling for ol’ Bru.

Which adventure is the Hufflepuff group? I want that one (cause it's Hufflepuff).

My philosophy exactly. I don't even expect anything relevant to that law to come into play in the game (unless one of you lot does something crazy), but it's there because I'm creating an alternate reality and alternate realities also come with atrocities. In fact, D&D ones in particular tend to come with more atrocities than most. Almost as if someone is counting on a bunch of heroes to make it better or something. ;)
In character, people are going to speak as they do, but I can make a pretty good case for some alternate word choices. Fuck, for example. According to legend, the word is supposed to be an acronym for Forbidden Use of Carnal Knowledge that came into play in the 19th century on Earth as a result of sailors taking inappropriate liberties at sea. There's a great book called Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing (asterisk included only because that's the actual title) that would actually contradict that account, but some of her sources are more reliable than others and her one example from 1310 is a bit too derivative for my tastes, so let's assume for the moment that the legend is accurate. No reason it couldn't have happened earlier or differently in my campaign world, but conversely, there's a good excuse there to use more period-appropriate or alternate swear words: "Get that sarding overweight dwarf away from my gorram gemstones."

In Character, I'm fine with whatever words your characters want to say. I would prefer alternate words to asterisks, but that's only a preference, not a mandate.

Out of Character, I'm fine with swears that aren't directed at anyone, but I will take exception if they are used in any kind of a conflict or disagreement.

It's the pilgrimage. Since the Provos one is a mystery and the pilgrimage is more laborious, I called them Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff respectively, as a little joke. ;) No commitment to those names being appropriate past the first adventure, though.

And side note, I do consider myself Hufflepuff, so I get it. ;) Go Badgers!

I just can't choose Ravenclaw when there's a Hufflepuff option available. Doesn't matter if it's only somewhat relevant for one adventure, lol!

Okay, group choices have been made. :)

Avraham, Runekyndig, Shorty and Arrcher will be answering Provos' request to visit Baron Treymane.
Aisede, Grifter, WhiteDwarf and DrifterDwarf will be going on the pilgrimage to the crypts.

Hopefully everyone's happy with those choices. You should now only be able to see your group's subforum, and you can check in over on your group's OOC chat.

We can still use this chat to talk amongst both groups and talk about general stuff for the campaign world.

@Dipper Question. I sent part of this by PM, but it probably applies to more than just me, so repeating here.

1) Clarification: literate means read/write. So unless one of selected proficiencies are Arcana, History, Medicine, Nature, or Religion, the character cannot read or write, just speak.

2) Does Thieves Cant count as a language for this purpose?

3) In the example you give using the sailor background, why is the second language free? The sailor does not come with any extra languages? I wouldn't care other than the background I intend to use also doesn't come with extra languages, but I will have a positive modifier to my INT. And my background story can make good use of being able to read/write Common.

4) Confirm that starting equipment is selecting from the PHB + 120gp of which about 115gp should be spent prior to game start

5) Lifting and Carrying per PHB, I presume? (15 x STR etc.)

6) For those of us planning to worship one of your dieties, anything special we should know, or may devotions etc. be similar to dieties with similar portfolios in other pantheons? For example, Biveshin is equivalent to Silvanus from FR. Cedra is similar to Mask, etc.

7) There is mention of "Life Cycle Rules" which take into account character age, but I see no further explanations.

Thanks for your patience!

My tentative plan is to make the first post for both games on Saturday, August 3rd. Reminder that we're doing Monday, Thursday and Saturday updates from there. At this time I don't see any reason to off-shift the other game, but if I ever decide to, the posting dates for the other would wind up being Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. Wednesday is when I run my staff meetings and do most of my important work crap IRL, so it tends to be the day I don't touch PbP as much.

I will make a final decision on custom character sheets by this Wednesday at the latest. I think I've been convinced that they don't necessarily need to be mandatory, as long as all desired information winds up on whichever one is used.

Background questionnaires are a kind of ASAP thing; I like to mine the data for common threads and connections, and see if any of the storylines you might encounter can be enhanced by weaving details of your backgrounds into them.

My house rules are up as well. Make sure you note the method for determining your Level 2 HP.

I don't expect either game to dip into combat for the first few weeks (barring any insanity on your part), so I feel like I have a little time to play around before I make any final decisions on my combat plan. I would like two volunteers (preferably people familiar with the site who have been in combats on it before) to help me playtest some shenanigans and see how they translate here. I'll probably make a subforum for that purpose and hide it while we test, though if the test goes well I'll probably reveal it and use it as proof of concept for everyone else.

As always, any questions or concerns, my door is always open to you all, and I'm looking forward to making some good memories together! Buckle up! :)

Correct. And to continue clarifying, each proficiency only comes with literacy for ONE language - so if you speak Common and Elven, for example, and take proficiency in History, you would have to choose which of those two languages you are literate in.
No, nor does Druidic. But it's important to recognize that the reason they don't count is because neither of these are true languages in the sense that you could recite (or sign) Shakespeare with them. They're maybe 30-50 concepts total, referencing jargon specific to their respective disciplines. So thieves cant might have signals for "guard approaching" or "I see the target" but it can't be used to describe a nuanced idea like, "I saw Abigail discussing the weather with Erwin last night." Druidic, by the same token, is limited to ritual descriptions of natural and environmental phenomena.
Oh. Well. I believe the technical term for that would be "a mistake". :) I'll have to update the example for one that does normally come with a language.
Confirmed.
Yup.
Yes, there are special things to know. When you choose a deity, I will make sure you are privy to a private message that includes the tenets of worship for that deity, their holidays (if any) and some basic facts. I haven't quite figured out where to post that, though. ;) It might just have to go in the Campaign Information section itself as an addendum for those who need it.
I'm still copying everything over from my old PbP home. I suspect it just hasn't made the trip yet. If you don't see an answer emerge by the time I declare myself done with that process, remind me.

Cool!
Your wish is our command. See below
BTDTHTTS. However, based on the literacy rules, I may want to change some answers. Should I edit in place or submit anew?
I volunteer as tribute, but I have not used this site before either.

Edit in place. I won't start mining for details until Thursday (working on the character sheet stuff and migration now); if you change it on Thursday or later, just make sure you let me know with a mention.

Might still be useful. ;)

Regarding character creation, are there any banned feats/spells/etc.?

Any chance Warlocks can have Pact of the Blade as an Invocation like how it'll be in 5.5e? I can have him using a dagger instead until then, but figured I'd ask.

Nothing comes to mind, other than the previously announced ban on teleportation. Although you can still pick the spells if you feel like wasting slots, they just don't work. ;)
No harm in asking, but opening that door is going to cause a floodgate of requests to review 5.5E material, so I'll have to say no for now. You will be able to change things like subclass and whatnot when we convert.

Ah, ok, in that case I can go Hexblade then. That works!

I'm thurely impressed by the vast information you have provided about the campaign setting.

Just mulling over some ideas for my character, and I have a couple of questions:
- Are there any racism issues similar to our world? (As in, not elf vs humans, but, say, humans of one continent who looks different than humans from another continent?)
- Are there any "Asian" looking humans (or elves) in this setting?