Adventures in Aerth-Campaign Introduction
This game will be run using
Delving Deeper, with a strong dose of the
first three OD&D books without supplements to assist. Attribute bonuses, spells, the addition of the thief and how that classes skills work will be done primarily with Delving Deeper. Other older materials such as the
Ready Ref Sheets will likely be utilized as well.
The primary theme for this game will be 'Dungeons & Dragons'
What I mean by this is, I am primarily intending to play a simple game here with no heavy story-arc. Now, that doesn't mean there won't be sprinkles of wierdness in it. And my favorite flavor of sprinkles of weirdness is Howard and Lovecraft. Of course Tolkien, and to a lesser degree, Moorcock, might play a part.
I'm hoping for three players to start but will be able to handle more (less than a dozen at start would be helpful to me as I get going though). I've never ran a game online, so I want to start cautiously and call for three posts a week during the weekdays, with weekends off. We all hit rough spots: If I can't post, I'll try to drop a quick message in OOC; If someone playing is having a hard time keeping up, we can set that player's character up in the local safe area until that player is able or desirous of entering the game again. No harm, no foul.
This will primarily be a dungeon-crawling game, but with a campaign world that serves as a backdrop to that action. It's there for you to help you imagine how your character might be as well as how the other people around your character are.
The game will start in the nation of "Anglica" (think medieval England), in the center of the world map, in the capitol city there. Near the capitol city are a couple of other Anglican towns and villages to go to and base out of, also. As you move around the patrolled lands, you'll likely encounter smaller settlements in this place that aren't on the big map as well.
Once you think you are ready for it, the map really is quite big... It's up to you where and how far you go. Keep hitting dungeons if that's fun (I like this sort of thing too), or eventually travel to one of the different nations or explore the wilderness. There is plenty 'open' wilderness that I haven't detailed yet specifically for that reason. Just be aware that the wilderness isn't 'balanced' to your character's abilities: Go there, and you may die. You might run into a few kobolds, a rampaging ogre tribe, or 30-300 bandits and that might ruin your day. Be careful! And make good decisions.
If you are having a tough time coming up with something you want to do, just bring that up. We can facsimile a 'quest' for you. Just give me a day or so to set that up, and we can get going.
As a DM, I'm just wanting to play that good, old-fashioned, simple, D&D. Dungeon diving, action and combat, some tricks to solve, treasure to be had and won, light-hearted (oft-times outright silly) humor along with the age-old battle between good and evil.
I'm neutral over role-playing... Do it as you please, when you please, or not at all and just play the game as a game. I dont' mind 'meta-gaming' (doing what you, the player, know is best, even if your 'character might not know it'). It's YOUR character, so your choice.
I also really dig the negotiation aspect of this game: The
best thing you can do in my game is to talk or describe your way out of me rolling dice to determine something, whether that be how you find or neutralize a trap, search for a secret door, or just about anything outside of combat. Good creative problem solving on your part means I toss the dice less: My tossing the dice less means your character has less an opportunity to die from rolled damage or failed saving throws.
... And sometimes characters
will die. I'm going to let that happen, as I don't think it's my job to do otherwise, and it's too easy to roll up new ones in these older games. Also, it's no fun if it's too easy for you. If you would like to still play, I'll get you some new scores for another character ASAP. Or, maybe even better, if you've hired henchmen, just elevate one to your new PC status and keep on playing with no stutter in your playing of the game at all. It's not that I WANT you to die; I'd rather see you live, and be awesome, because I get to share in that awesome stuff too, but... I really want to see you earn it, just like I'd like to get better at DMing as I run this game.
Regarding that, please treat me civil, as I will treat you, but pull no punches. If I make a mistake, let me know, and I'll see what I can do to fix it. If the mistake is bad enough I have to fix it publicly by backing the game up a bit, I'll do that after I tell everyone about it.
