The Lord of the Rings - Bree and the Barrow Downs

Whatever the opposite of a railroaded adventure is, this open-world campaign is that. The rules are simple. The world is complicated. What happens to it is up to the players. You will hear rumors, discover locations, meet competing factions, and encounter problems, but the game will not tell you which direction you must take. Some things the players have chosen to do so far: Join the local mercenaries to learn the ways of the sword as a mage - Retrieve an old lady's purse - Become war chieftain of an orc village - Decapitate a wight with a cursed sword Also some new races that are crafted to play and feel very different: - Pixie - fly, perfect hiding, cast phantasmal forces at will, insults cause physical damage to you - Orc - infra-vision, can recruit monsters more easily Races and classes are kind of blended together. Multiple characters are encouraged. Each choice allows you to do something that appears to let you break the game, while saddling you with something else that seems debilitating. This is by design, and players have come up with a few ways of getting around and abusing these things to the betterment of the story and lore. - Fighting-Man - Doesn't have to actually be a guy, but is a human. Can use all weapons and armor. - Magic-User - Has one spell, one "shot". Can meet with magic learned peers to exchange knowledge. The most notorious spell in the game right now is Charm Person because it doesn't wear off like in later editions. - Cleric - The best of the two above, but must be Good, and by the Law. - Elf - Essentially a Magic-Use/Fighting-Man with extra perks and ties with elves and the ability to sense magic, enhanced senses, etc. but capped at a certain point - Hobbit - Capped early, but can hide flawlessly in urban areas and snipe REAL good with slings. No magic. - Dwarf -  Capped early, but high resistance, good with all axes and hammers, can sense what stone touches and its shape, and ties with and extensive knowledge of dwarven culture and holds. There are major events going on in the background but instead of shoving players in the middle of them, I showcase the developments of those events that come about, for good or ill. The players decide what to investigate, whom to trust, which dangers are worth confronting, and what their characters want to accomplish. How many hirelings do you need to bring with you? How much can you do successfully alone to maximize profit? Play alone, 1-on-1 with DM and player, or up to 10 others at once. The world continues to develop around the party. Factions pursue their own plans, NPCs remember your actions, enemies adapt, settlements can change, and neglected situations may grow better or worse. Player choices can permanently reshape the campaign world. Let me know if you are interested!

Hello everyone, Alex here! I am a new GM on Start Playing, and I am looking for players for my mini campaign. I am hoping to become a full-time GM and figured this was the best way to start. A bit about me: I've been a GM for 7 years. I am an artist, illustrator, animator, voice actor, and writer. And I absolutely love roleplaying!  Game Premise: In the world of Anangnibi (pronounced Ah-nahng-nee-bee) there looms a threat to the local towns and villages outside of a major port city called Agonan Mizhakwad (pronounced Ah-goh-nahn Meez-hahk-wahd). Reports of attacks have become more frequent and many have claimed to see a flying creature up within the mountains. Maps indicate that there is an old fort that has been empty for quite some time in the area. The local authorities have put up a reward for heroes to go and investigate the area and find out what has been happening. You as the heroes will find yourselves walking into the mountains to find the old hold, and once you get there, you'll find out that you have gotten far more than you bargained for. Who, or what, awaits within the halls of old abandoned stone? And will you survive the secrets within? Or will you be claimed by death much the same as those of the poor raided villages? Death lurks here, cold and indifferent like the sitting stone. You will need your strength and wit if you want to survive. So be prepared to face the challenges and discover the mystery of what hides within the mountain stone. Game Price: $25 per person  Session count: 1-3 sessions Session length: 4-5 hours Player Character Level: 5 System: D&D 5E Sourcebooks accepted: PHB 14, XGE, TCE, VGM (Other sourcebooks are open to discussion) Homebrew and 3rd Party: Open to discussion More information and details about the game can be found here on the Start Playing post: https://startplaying.games/adventure/cmt21mabu0037l404tjn7c32u?ref=cmrmikhi800frl704k6ca84nl  Content warning: While I am a newbie player friendly DM/GM, the game I am running is a DEADLY game with a DEADLY dungeon; your characters have a high chance of dying. Please keep that in mind for this game. If you are not okay with character death, this may not be the game for you.  If you have any additional questions, please feel free to message me, and I will get back to you as soon as possible.  You can also get some more general information about me as a GM, as well as read previous player reviews through my Start Playing GM Profile here:  https://startplaying.games/gm/alexthedmpanda Looking forward to hearing from you soon!

No politics of any kind: right, left, sexuality, real world religions, excessive feminism/whatever etc not allowed, if you have a need to make a fuss about that, you will be kicked out. It's perfectly fine to have those views, but don't bring them to the game (this is meant to be fun, social, intellectually challenging). If you have major psych problems that get in the way of simple social interaction (explosive outbursts etc) don't contact me. I do ask for telephone number just in case of you not showing up to game and you didn't tell me otherwise. Emergency stuff, like if you get sick or something. I do care about my players! 1 Give me warning 24 hours before the game if you are gonna cancel. I need the time to tell the others and cancel the game if I don't have enough people to play. This is non negotiable! 2 Play well with others. If you are too disruptive, I will boot you after several warnings. 3 Take a different role each new campaign. Try new things! 4 You have to show up to play 75% of the time. If you cancel too many times, there's no point to having you in the group. 5 Sometimes you will be required to take a role you don't really want because the rest of the group made their picks already, this is meant to help the group have versatility. If this happens, the next campaign I will make sure you get first pick as to your role/class. 6 If you have to make sacrifices for the group, like blowing feats on item crafting etc, I will try to send good things your way. Teamwork is important. I have been GMing since 1997 or so, cut my gaming teeth on AD&D first ed. I go above and beyond for my players. I am very adept at teaching, btw. This campaign is on Mondays at 6pm Central time Discord video chat, but we could change time/day if the other players are willing and able. Set in Chicago, I've added abilities to the NPCs to support their discipline powers, and set the whole timeline from Chicago 1 to 2 and beyond more gradually, changed who lives. Note that I have changed some of the clans a bit, like switched Gangrel(Sabbat) and City Gangrel (Camarilla), turned certain Brujah into True Brujah, a Ventrue into a Nosferatu, that sort of thing. Vampire has characters that are difficult to create without my assistance if you don't know how the numbers and discipline powers work (you distribute dots, there are no classes). However the game play dice mechanics/rules are easy as heck. The hard part is that it demands more forethought to play, because there's a lot of deceptive NPCs, including your own. It is oddly more ethical/moral than medieval fantasy games by far, even though you don't play a hero normally, and even though you're a vampire feeding on humans and aren't human yourself. It's darker I suppose, lots of intrigue and figuring out what is really going on. Kinda like watching Babylon 5 or Dune, you have to take notes to recall everything that could be vital later. A LOT less combat than medieval fantasy games! It's rare, but nasty when it does occur. Maturity is advised. Note that I broke my campaign down in a timeline, it can be altered by PC actions, even down to the year and month.  VERY DETAILED homebrew campaign that can be changed given PC choices. RIght now they are in late 1990 somewhere between Oct and December, you will get the PC's average xp to start with, along with a host of extra little benefits outside what the creation rules normally grant. You dictate the parameters, I figure out how to make the mechanics do what you want and tell you about potential problems, and I pick out flaws so as to give you your own story arc. Its also a great way to get rid of problem NPCs. The Dark Fate flaw is reserved for anyone meeting their end during Gehenna, the end of the world. See, the Antediluvians rise, and they are hungry for their clan members.... That doesn't mean you can't play, you can still run other characters even after your main one croaks. Official list of clans/bloodlines you can take in Chicago compatible with the group as it is: Nosferatu (must take Dark Fate flaw), Toreador, Ventrue, Brujah, Gangrel (Sabbat), Malkavian, City Gangrel (Camarilla), Tzimisce (must take the Dark Fate flaw), Gargoyle, Caitiff (Anarch typically), Assamite (Milwaukee Sabbat), True Brujah. Obscure list (you can take them if you want, but you won't have support from fellow clan members in Chicago): Daughter of Cacophony, Nagarajah, Salubri (Warrior and very Camarilla), Lamia.  Got a Cappadocian (a hospital morgue doctor and a necromancer), Salubri (one Healer(an FBI agent), one Watcher (a homicide Chicago police detective), and Lasombra (an amateur boxer and criminal lawyer, he wants to go Camarilla). I have set up each pc to have fast growth, to have really good rolls for their disciplines right away. The party could use a member that has Vicissitude, Animalism, Celerity (this requires high Wits) as clan, or possibly Temporis, Thaumaturgy. Luckily there's a 5 point merit that allows anyone to buy clan xp rates, hint hint.  If you go into this expecting to create your character without regard to the setting or the group composition, you can kiss your entitled butt goodbye. Even if I did nothing different as GM, the group would suffer and your PC might not make it. I do get your back when I get the chance if you are willing to try a clan you don't normally. You gotta also pay for mentor ratings since you need a teacher to increase your disciplines outside of Celerity, Fortitude, Potence. BTW, I made these 3 powers much easier to use, and less vitae expensive. If you pick from the obscure list, you can BUY up to 7th generation, but you blow 6 background dots to pull it off.  Caitiff are interesting, I made them able to teach ANY discipline they learn; normally the 13 clans can only teach their clan disciplines. A Tremere is possible, but you'd need to be a diehard Anarch (meaning the local Tremere want your keister dead, although good news for you that the Chicago ones are less than competent). If you don't know the clans, I can give you information but you will need the V20 core rulebook (learning the setting and abilities but not the disciplines), the dark ages core rulebook (mostly just for the super powers/disciplines), tome of secrets (all forms of vampire magic, even Obtenebration), and Erciyes Fragments (this will feature heavily in the campaign, its the Vampire bible of sorts including prophecies) books. Also a total of 20 d10's, basically two matched sets of 10 d10's, but the 2 sets cannot match each other. Preferably translucent dice, not solid. Chuck out any that have bubbles inside. Game always starts at 6pm central Mondays. The Guide to the Camarilla from the Revised edition might be handy, but not strictly necessary. Prince's Primer is nice for understanding elder vampires' mindset. They are very manipulative, and deceptive. This is a copy of an update I gave to a player that missed a session: Both Michael Payne Toreador and Son of the Malkavians are dead, and Jay found another body in the basement, this time of a dead boy, a formerly months old vampire Caitiff. His name was Neon, and Damien of the Brujah (one of 2 anarch leaders was caring/teaching for Neon) Damien will have to be told. Neon was chained via manacles to the basement floor in Son's Skokie residence, his throat ripped out and his face gnawed upon. Evidence was found that Son was blackmailing Horatio Ballard into insane and demeaning acts. You could get a major boon from Ballard using this, or use it against him in other ways. (the players gave this information to the Nosferatu, who now owe them big time)  Ballard apparently has been naughty. Michael accidentally killed Son, and Michael is dead thanks to the party knocking him into torpor, and the elders ending him. recall, Michael was suicidal, and homicidal after the party ended his ex wife. plus had a rep for being a thug who used to cause chaos your character Salubri Healer just rescued the young couple that Son was psychologically torturing, and you shot Michael (bashing damage, just reduced him to torpor) as he tried to use Ben the Cappadocian as a shield