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Old May 3rd, 2019, 11:18 PM
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Wave Echo Cave (and Beyond?)

Looking for two replacement players. Anticipate selection by 11/2.Announcement likely 11/1

Be careful with last minute applications, as there is a degree of player interaction involved in the application process and you want to allow time for that. The current players will assist with that part of the application when it comes up.

The current party is composed of a gnome rogue(arcane trickster), dragonborn paladin(oath of crown), and dwarf cleric(life). We have recently had a dwarf monk and aaracockra bard step away from the game due to significant RL issues. The monk remains with the party as an NPC for now (though might be shuttled off screen prior to any new players joining the game) but the bard has been offscreen for awhile now. Any applicants are welcome, but we are probably in most need of some additional arcane spellcasting.

If anyone would like to check out the current flow of the game to see if it is something you'd be interested in applying for, here is the game thread.

We also may have enough applicants to start a second game set in Gloamhold, so no need to feel overly intimidated by the current applicant pool.

The original ad is approximately as follows:

One Week Ago...
right-aligned image
Sildar Hallwinter pounded the table with frustration as Sister Garaele described the fate of the adventuring party he had assembled to save their town. That was the trouble with these adventurers, they never did what you wanted them to. When it was time for them to clear out a mine that would increase the economy of the town, they instead went and got themselves killed by a dragon.

“Are you sure?” he bellowed. “How recently did this occur?”

“Within the past few days,”
replied the young elven cleric.

“And the dwarf?”

“None of the Rockseeker brothers were found among the corpses. I’m not sure what has become of any of them.”

Hallwinter narrowed his eyes, “And how do you know so much anyways?”

“I make it my business to gather information….Our interests are not so different, you know. An orderly society often results in a free flow of information. Things are much better for my work now that those ruffians have been taken care of. I wouldn’t have come to you with this information if I didn’t trust you to do the right thing.”


Sildar grunts, “I just don’t like secrets is all. But I have to admit you are probably the best person to keep an eye on things while I’m out of town for awhile.”

“Sorry, Sildar, government isn’t really my thing…too stressful. I’m sure Harbin will do a passable job of taking over any of your duties while you are gone.”


Sildar grated his teeth with frustration, “Harbin Wester is the reason why this town got into so much trouble in the first place.”

But the young elf just smiled back at him before bidding him adieu.

Now...Sildar sat nursing his drink at the Driftwood Inn while keeping eagle eyes on the announcement he’d tacked to the board a few feet away. If he’d actually tried to enjoy the drink it might help him stop grinding his teeth so much, but then he’d risk losing control of the situation. Pretty much his whole life was about being in control of the situation.

What was it with adventurers and these seedy taverns anyways?

The NoteThe long lost Wave Echo Cave has been discovered! A dwarf clan that staked a claim to it has gone missing. Other, more nefarious, interests seem to be involved as well. If you are interested, please come talk to me for more information. I will escort you to the location and arrange for you to receive a credit of 25 gold each at Barthen’s provisions once you have agreed. If you are able to find the missing dwarf clan, they are likely to offer you an even more substantial reward. However, I can’t currently speak for them.

-Sildar Hallwinter



Game DetailsWe will be running And if you've played this before, it doesn't automatically disqualify you. See below for details.Wave Echo Cave from the Starter Kit (skipping over the other parts), and then moving on to something else when we are done with that (I have ideas, but willing to discuss possibilities with whoever gets in the game. Focus should be dungeon-crawly type things).

In media res: We will jump immediately into the action. When I say immeditely, I mean the first post will start with you at the entrance to the dungeon. I will also include a (possibly optional) RP thread for people to engage with as you are finishing up your character sheets. This thread will run concurrent with the game thread and will allow us to slowly get to know each other's characters while at the same time providing everyone who wants to jump straight into the action the chance to do that with the main game thread. As we complete Wave Echo Cave and move on to whatever comes next, we should plan on something similar. You will jump straight to the entrance of the next dungeon, with another side thread for all the RP in between. We might steal something like Love Letters from Apocalypse World in order to figure out those details. We can have a bit of RP for character development, but the story itself will be driven by combat. If you were expecting something else, this is probably not the right game for you.

Quick Combat: This game will be an opportunity to playtest a quick combat method that I’ve developed. This method allows us to resolve Easy encounters with a single die roll each, followed by a shared narration of the ensuing battle. Depending on the choices you make, we will probably only use this method around ~30% of encounters. So you will still be using traditional combat methods for the encounters that could be more dangerous. In fact, I'm hoping that using this method will help to highlight the more dangerous combats. But if this is not something of interest to you, then this is probably not your game.

Character CreationIn general:
PHB plus one other source is fine (indicate this source when you know which one you are selecting).
Feats and Variant Human are fine.
No multiclass initially (though if I ever change this I will allow retrofitting).
Please ask if you have other questions.

Include the following in your application:
Use standard array to generate your ability scores.
Determine the hit points your character would have at third level.

After selection to the game:
Level your character to fourth level, remember to add ASI or feats.
Make all other decisions such as background, spells, subclass, etc.

Character Wealth: Use the starting equipment as listed for your class and background. You have also gained a net 250 gold in your adventures so far. You may use this wealth to buy anything listed in PHB, chapter 5, or accumulate it for later use. If you want to sell off anything from your starting equipment, you may do so at half price (but you might want to hold onto things unless you really need upgraded armor or something).

Magic Items: You have accumulated some amount of magic items in your previous quests and will roll to determine the details. (Don’t roll until selected for the game.)
Roll twice on Magic Item Tables A and B: You may select any one of the four results from these rolls.
Roll twice on Magic Item Table C and once on F: You may select any one of the three results from these rolls.
If your roll results in a spell scroll, you may select any spell for the given level.
You may trade items with each other if you like.
If you don’t have the DMG, I can look them up for you once you make the rolls (make d100 rolls indicating which table the roll is for with each roll).

ApplicationI am most interested in how potential players interact with each other. I am also interested in players who are interested in the game mechanic I am introducing. Player selection will be largely based around these ideas. When you are ready to apply, post your character idea in this thread.

Player Background, Description, etc: Write something here in whatever format you prefer. Brevity is nice, but so is clarity. To me this is the ideal. We are creating a story together and should be open to how we can shape it together. Unfortunately, there isn't an easy way to determine ahead of time whether this is something each applicant is willing to do. I think the best evidence I will have with this is the combat simulations detailed below.Being open to having your character concept change a bit based on the other characters in the game would be golden. Historically, I haven’t found a clear trend between how well backgrounds are written and how good of a fit a player is for a particular game. So there will be some amount of this that matters, but don’t feel like you have to overdo it here.

Mechanics: Indicate race and class. In addition, there are a few stats I would like you to calculate, as detailed in the character creation: abilities, and hp at 3rd level. Include these here. As long as you are able to do this correctly, there is no penalty or bonus to your consideration for this part. However, I might need to select somewhat based off of party balance: I’m not going to select 4 sorcerors, but I might select maybe 2 fighters depending on the applicant pool. If you really want to get into the game and are concerned about this, feel free to apply with two different characters.

X-Card(Optional): If there are things that you would be uncomfortable showing up in the setting of the game, please feel free to include those in your application. I would rather sort that out before the game than have someone drop because of an issue later that was never addressed ahead of time. Feel free to use secret text or PM if you are more comfortable with that, especially if you see something in another application that might cross a line for you. If you can't think of anything, don't feel like you have to add anything here. I don't expect anything mentioned here will adversely affect the selection process for the game, and if I think it would I will let you know. I mean if you don't like to pretend that you are killing monsters, maybe don't play DnD? Other than that I can't think of anything that I couldn't be flexible about during game selection.

Player Interaction: Once you have completed the previous requirements, I would like you to interact with some of the other applicants by simulating a battle together using the new quick combat mechanics. Details of the quick combat mechanics can be found here. There is an OOC thread in the simulation folder for the game. Use it to decide on groups of 4 to 5 players to complete a combat with together, then select The combat encounters are the titles of the other threads in this folder.one of the combat encounters you would like to engage with as a group. Once you have made your group, roll in the dice thread for your class and use the table to determine the cost of the combat for your character. Then describe what this looked like for your character in a post. Feel free to discuss anything related to the combat in the OOC thread before you post. For example, good rolls often allow you to give benefits to other characters. If you have this kind of roll, make sure you clearly indicate which player you are giving the benefit to. You may take part in these combats as many times as you like, but please defer to applicants who have not had a chance to do so yet if you have already participated a few times. If you are selecting the same combat encounter that someone else has already participated in, the first post should have a title of “NEW COMBAT” to indicate as such. If there is a particular combat encounter you would like to see that isn’t listed, let me know and I will make a new thread for it. Remember these should all be Easy Encounters for a group of 4 to 5 third level characters. Also, please ask if anything about these mechanics seems unclear to you. It would be presumptuous of me to think I can create something like this and state it so clearly that everyone would understand it. You won't be penalized if it's not obvious how it works at first and need some clarification.

Ettiquette, etc.Posting Rates: I expect this will vary based on the situation at hand. For situations which require only a short response (traditional combat settings, or deciding whether to go left or right when the tunnel forks, etc) this could be in the one post a day range. For situations which require longer posts (social interactions, narrative posts using the new combat method, etc) the posting rate might slow to around twice a week. I will check in with people if it seems they are slowing things down and try to find a solution. The best thing is to let everyone know if you don't think you will be able to post during a given period of time.

Maps and Exploration: Once the game has started, I will check in with the players on how to best do this. We could do maps in Roll20 if everyone is OK with that, or I could copy the relevant maps to a googlesheet for combat. I'm fine with either, and not even sure which I'd prefer. I've used Roll20 a little bit, but by no means am I an expert.
A fair bit of any dungeon crawl is simply exploration into unknown areas. If you end up in a maze-like interconnection of passages, for instance, we could spend weeks simply navigating these if I wait on the entire group to decide which way to go. I think the best way of handling this might be some combination of having a single person (presumably the first person in marching order and also someone able to post fairly regularly) make most of the decisions on where the group moves along with making some decisions for you as the DM when you are in the aforementioned maze-like passages (perhaps by asking for ideas of how you plan to make decisions at each interchange as you enter the maze).

Previous experience with this adventure: you may still apply to the game if you have played through the Starter Set before. I want to use this quite popular setting because I really like the way the maps line up and the level is appropriate for the new mechanics. I can still make some substantive changes to the encounters to keep it a surprise for anyone who has experience with this. If you have played it before let me know before we get started so that I know how many changes I need to make.

Safety Tools: I believe safety tools are very helpful in roleplaying games, so I want to leave an opening for anyone to bring up any issues that are a concern. Personally, I have found that the anonymity and distance provided via PbP is a sort of safety tool in itself. But if anyone has anything they would like to X-card for this game, please feel free to let me know either in the comments or via PM. For myself, I would like to avoid any violence to children. I would be willing to make a few changes to the appearance of orcs and drow if anyone has concerns about representation related to those races. If this is a concern of yours, please feel free to PM me so we can work something out.

Other things: if there are questions about anything else, please leave them in the comments and I will address them in an FAQ (probably in a post to directly follow this one.) If you are more comfortable with PMs, that is fine too, though I prefer to keep my inbox from getting too full.

Options for playtesting these new mechanics. In addition to the “official” game, there will also be a variety of opportunities to playtest the new combat mechanic that can take place within the confines of this gaming folder (or possibly outside of it if there is interest in that).

“loose” playtesting: Anyone who has submitted an application is welcome to form groups of 4-5 to engage with any of the encounters for the application process. This will continue to be open even after the players for the game have been chosen for anyone who wants to participate.

“formal” playtesting:
Anyone who would like to commit to a more formal playtesting may form groups of 4-5 that will proceed through a larger series of encounters together. This might sound very similar to a regular game, which it is but with one key difference: the focus will be on testing the mechanics. This means that I will largely be deciding what happens so that it fits within the way I want the mechanics to work out. We will often jump from one encounter to the next without going through all the stealth rolls, perception checks, searching for traps, deciding which corridor to take, etc. that normally occupies a large portion of regular game time. You will be given a post with one encounter, decide how to defeat that encounter, then be given a post in which I describe how you end up making choices to arrive at the next encounter, etc. until I tell you that you’ve found a location that is safe to rest in, then the process repeats. You will have less of a say in the minutia, but a larger say in how your character is such a badass for how they destroyed a given encounter. There will be occasions where we will use the regular combat mechanics instead of the quick combat rules, so you should build your character as if this still matters. In fact, it will matter a lot more for those encounters than the quick combat encounters, as they will be more challenging encounters (anywhere from medium to deadly) where your character actually has a chance of dying. If you are interested in this, please plan to commit to it as if you were committing to a regular game. I will design it in such a way that it’s possible for players to be added or removed from the game as necessary. I would prefer to wait until after And this will remain open to anyone, whether they are in the main game or not.selecting players for the main game prior to starting this, but if you are interested in getting your character ready you will be starting at 3rd level.

Running a game with this gaming mechanic: If anyone would like to be a DM for a formal playtest here, I am open for that as well. I’d prefer that anyone doing this has participated either in the “official” game or the “formal” playtest for long enough that they have reached the point where they can take a long rest. I think it would require this much time in order to understand it enough to use it well. Anyone interested at this point will be given DM permissions for the game which will include notes for how to run the “formal” playtest. You may create your own scenario if you want or use the same one that I'll be using.

Running your own game with this gaming mechanic: I’m open to anyone stealing this idea for their own game, but there are a few things you should be aware of if you do this. First, I’m still playtesting this and will continue to make some changes, so keep an eye on any of those. Second, if you are using it for a game you are running on this site, I would be interested in observing how it works in your game so let me know so I can pop in and see how it’s going for you. Third, if you are interested in giving me feedback you'll be credited for doing so when this goes on DriveThru.

About MeI've been a casual off and on player of various roleplaying games since about 1984. I've been on RPGXing since about 2012, and have been more "serious" about roleplaying since then. I've seen what kinds of things can lead to games failing, particularly in the PbP format, and I have some ideas of how to avoid that in this game.
I started out here with 3.5/Pathfinder but am now a huge fan of 5e (though I am still in one PF game because the quality of play is more important than the mechanics, and it has some of the best PbP players I've ever been in a game with). Recently I've also been writing some gaming supplements. Some of those details are linked in my signature.
When I'm not gaming, I'm a STEM professor, husband, and father of two young sons.
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Last edited by goatmeal; Oct 29th, 2019 at 11:27 PM.
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Old May 3rd, 2019, 11:20 PM
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Faq

Ask any questions here....

Q: Would you like us to use average HP when supplying that information in our application?

A: No rolling for hp, use the PHB recommended max at level 1 and then a little above average for each level after that. If you gain a level once we have started the game and would prefer to roll that's fine (though I'm not sure why anyone would ever roll when you get a bit above an average roll as the default).

Q: Is bold text for character dialogue mandatory for game posts / backstory?

A: Use the standard for the site, which is bold text for speech, italics for thoughts. If you don't like doing this, you are always welcome to write a post where your character doesn't say anything or you don't write what they say as a quote, but as a summary of what they've said. I understand not wanting to have to format like this, and that's why I often write posts for my characters in which I don't have them speak directly.

Q: How would subclasses that add spellcasting abilities, such as Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster, affect the tables? Would they get the option to replace costs with spell slots like a caster, or would spells only factor into traditional combat?

A:This is a great question. The classes are relatively balanced against each other based on the features of the class. I haven’t added subclasses for two reasons: (1) it’s a lot more work than I really want to do, (2) I would be limited to DMsGuild for anything I did with this if I included all the subclasses. (This also doesn’t include things like battle mastery, domain abilities, or wizard schools.) So in terms of the classes being balanced, they actually make the encounters a bit easier than they would be otherwise, because those added features aren’t included in the balance and would be “left over” for other encounters. I could say more about this if you like. I put a lot of work into balancing the classes vs. each other and vs. the adventuring day.

Q:. Could I design alt characters using different +1 books, such as one uses SCAG and one uses XGTE?

A: If you are applying with two different characters, one of them could use SCAG and the other could use XGTE. But you can’t use SCAG and XGTE on the same character.

Q: Could I use the system for my own games if it is successful?

A:Absolutely. I even talk about some options for using it somewhere in the ad. Is this an onsite game? If so, let me know when you use it as I’d like to see how it works in someone else’s game.

Q: How many players do you need?
A:As of 5/26: 1-3 more would be necessary to start a 2nd game.

Q: When's the deadline for applications?
A:May 31st. (I moved it back by a day because I realized I have a conference on the 30th, so I probably won’t be able to review anything that day).

Q:Do applicants need a complete char sheet before posting on the applications thread? Do we post there first before starting a simulation?
A:You can have your application be WIP and start the simulation as long as you have abilities and hp figured out. I would prioritize completing the simulation because they’ve taken 3-5 days for the first 3 we’ve run.

B:Who are the other current applicants?
A:Check this table to see the current status of applicants. There has been a lot of interest expressed for this game, but nobody gets put on the table until they’ve complete a combat simulation.



Nobody:

Me: Most of the weird folder names are because sometimes I wonder if the only reason I play RPGs is to make obscure references to 80s music.
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Last edited by goatmeal; May 26th, 2019 at 03:12 PM.
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Old May 4th, 2019, 02:26 AM
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This sounds very interesting and fun.

Last edited by Valornor; May 4th, 2019 at 02:27 AM.
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Old May 4th, 2019, 12:06 PM
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Interest Placeholder Please...

Don't you want me baby? With or without you, Girls just wanna have fun.
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Old May 4th, 2019, 02:44 PM
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Thanks for the interest, folks.

I guess I should concede if we're having an 80s music contest, Dig. Pretty sure you'll have me beat there.
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Old May 4th, 2019, 03:14 PM
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Goodness gracious, this sounds like my dream campaign. Incredibly excited about what you've presented overall, but particularly keen to try your quick combat mechanics (which I've just taken a peek at), and will be submitting at least one application.

I believe I've read and understood everything in your post, but since you've offered to answer some questions here are a couple that have popped into my head:

1) Would you like us to use average HP when supplying that information in our application? If not, is this game's dice-rolling thread an appropriate place to roll for hit points or are we doing the honor system? (This might fall under etiquette; I've been away from RPGCrossing for a number of years, and there are some things I need to re-learn.)

2) Is bold text for character dialogue mandatory for game posts / backstory? (My desire is not to format speech like that, but understand that many people do and would rather adhere to your preferences on this.)

That's it for now, thanks very much. So very happy to have found this advertisement. Now to decide on some character concepts!
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Old May 4th, 2019, 03:58 PM
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This looks super rad! I’ll try to get a character together that suits your ideas as soon as I can.
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Old May 4th, 2019, 05:27 PM
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Welcome folks, glad to hear there is so much interest in this right off the bat. On to the questions.

1) No rolling for hp, use the PHB recommended max at level 1 and then a little above average for each level after that. If you gain a level once we have started the game and would prefer to roll that's fine (though I'm not sure why anyone would ever roll when you get a bit above an average roll as the default).

2) Use the standard for the site, which is bold text for speech, italics for thoughts. If you don't like doing this, you are always welcome to write a post where your character doesn't say anything or you don't write what they say as a quote, but as a summary of what they've said. I understand not wanting to have to format like this, and that's why I often write posts for my characters in which I don't have them speak directly.

Great questions, btw. These were things that were not addressed in the ad itself but are probably common questions a lot of people would have. I will add them to the FAQ momentarily.
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Old May 4th, 2019, 11:29 PM
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After a chance to actually READ most of this, I am going to step out. I like the concept, but my time needs something...simpler...right now.

Best of luck!!
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Old May 5th, 2019, 11:00 AM
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Thanks for the heads up, Dig.

I’ll be in the mountains today. I’ll try to catch up with any questions when I get back.
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Old May 5th, 2019, 09:58 PM
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Posting interest. The quick combat mechanics sound great, and I would love to test them out. Just a few questions.

1. How would subclasses that add spellcasting abilities, such as Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster, affect the tables? Would they get the option to replace costs with spell slots like a caster, or would spells only factor into traditional combat?

2. Could I design alt characters using different +1 books, such as one uses SCAG and one uses XGTE?

3. Could I use the system for my own games if it is successful?
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Last edited by AlphaP; May 5th, 2019 at 10:04 PM.
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Old May 5th, 2019, 11:08 PM
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Thanks for the interest, AlphaP.
1. How would subclasses that add spellcasting abilities, such as Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster, affect the tables? Would they get the option to replace costs with spell slots like a caster, or would spells only factor into traditional combat?

This is a great question. The classes are relatively balanced against each other based on the features of the class. I haven’t added subclasses for two reasons: (1) it’s a lot more work than I really want to do, (2) I would be limited to DMsGuild for anything I did with this if I included all the subclasses. (This also doesn’t include things like battle mastery, domain abilities, or wizard schools.) So in terms of the classes being balanced, they actually make the encounters a bit easier than they would be otherwise, because those added features aren’t included in the balance and would be “left over” for other encounters. I could say more about this if you like. I put a lot of work into balancing the classes vs. each other and vs. the adventuring day.

2. Could I design alt characters using different +1 books, such as one uses SCAG and one uses XGTE?

I’m not entirely sure I understand the question. If you are applying with two different characters, one of them could use SCAG and the other could use XGTE. But you can’t use SCAG and XGTE on the same character.

3. Could I use the system for my own games if it is successful?

Absolutely. I even talk about some options for using it somewhere in the ad. Is this an onsite game? If so, let me know when you use it as I’d like to see how it works in someone else’s game.


One other thing I wanted to mention unrelated to any of your questions. I want my game to be accessible to anyone and I know there is a lot of information here. I’m going to relook at the ad and see if I can reorganize it to be a bit more user friendly. It might be a few days before I am able to make any changes, but it is something I’ve been thinking about. If anyone has any feedback on this, please let me know.
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  #13  
Old May 6th, 2019, 12:41 AM
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Jim Faindel Jim Faindel is offline
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I've been looking for a more efficient method for combats in PBP, and playtesting seems way more fun than just digging into ancient forum threads looking for homebrew settings.
So yeah, I'll be making an application most likely by tomorrow.
As for suggestions with the ad, I'd recommend to put the different sections of the post into spoiler tags, that way new and curious players may discover a new facet of the game with each click instead of being immediately confronted with a somewhat intimidating wall of text.
Mind you, I love me some huge walls of text with obtuse and complex DM lingo as much as anyone reasonably could, but toning that down a bit would likely help the game look more begginer-friendly.
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Old May 6th, 2019, 01:31 AM
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@goatmeal Thanks for the response.

1. As a continuation, would you be opposed to me making an eldritch knight or a blade-song wizard?

2. Yeah, I was debating between the two books. I love the added spells in XGTE, but a subclass I wished to try is in SCAG. With the option to make two characters, I thought I might submit one for each.

3. I don't know yet. I'm considering trying out DMing eventually, and having a few more tools to help things go smoothly would help. I've noticed that combat can be somewhat of a drag in PbP, so an option to handle less challenging encounters quickly would keep a game here running smoother.
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Old May 6th, 2019, 02:45 AM
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Hm this looks really interesting.

How do you feel about the Artificer?
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