[PF-1e] The Forsaken Plane: The Plane of The Elder Evils

[Xian]

Originally Posted by Zealot

I will wait and see what you come up with.

Okay, I have figured it out... turned out it was not a big deal, but see feedback below!



@All - these are some very high quality applications with much of the writing that I desired for my game. Even without any more applicants, it will be difficult to choose between these as they are all rife with Gothic potential.

Onward!

Cheers, Xian

[Zealot]

Originally Posted by Xian

Okay, I have figured it out... turned out it was not a big deal, but see feedback below!



@All - these are some very high quality applications with much of the writing that I desired for my game. Even without any more applicants, it will be difficult to choose between these as they are all rife with Gothic potential.

Onward!

Cheers, Xian

[WhiteStag]

Great Xian,

I have updated my app further with new adjustments. They are in Dark Red Text. App Here.

Thank you again for your time. Please inform me, at your leisure, of how I can further streamline.

[Xian]

@Zealot,

As Captain Jean Luc Picard would say... "Make it so, Number One!"



@WhiteStag,

I like what I am seeing and I appreciate the effort you are investing in developing the character out!

[Xian]

@All,

Food for thought for all applicants, as I have addressed in secret to a couple of people in their responses to the question of why the Dark Powers would choose their character for the Forsaken Plane.

The Dark Power, while drawn to evil and darkness, are not themselves evil by any mortal comprehension. Simply put, the Powers seek to tempt the good, test the just, and torment the wicked/evil. So as you look at your characters, perhaps consider and think about those things that would tempt, test, or torment your character.

Again do not let alignment be a constraint to these. I use alignment as measure of the character's tendencies and not a dictate of their behavior. (and also for alignment based effects... )

I hope that helps that helps to generate some more thought, but what I have seen so far has been most excellent.

Applicant Name	Character Name	Character Race	Class/Archetype	Native or Off World	Application Status
LordRuthven	Aurelian	Human	LN Cross blood Sorcerer (Abyssal and celestial)	Off World	Complete - Review in Progress
dbaque	Dr. Aurelius Aylmer	Elf	LG Alchemist (promethean alchemist)	Off World	Complete and Reviewed
Zealot	Henri d'Hugh	Human	LE Vigilante (Avenger)	Native	Complete and Reviewed
Eleven Sided Dice	TBD	TBD	Blade Bound Magus (?)	TBD	Interest
WhiteStag	Jonathan Rawncer	Human	NG Bloodrager - Golden Draconic Bloodline (Archetypes: Blood Conduit & Primalist)	Native	Complete and Reviewed
Grifter730	Elric al Verna	Human	CG Bard (Flame Dancer Dirge Bard)	Native	Complete and Reviewed

Just because I have marked you complete, does not mean that you cannot continue to tweak your app. However, if there are any substantive changes that you would like to draw my attention to, please drop a post and let me know to look at your app again.

Onward!

Cheers, Xian

[Xian]

Team,

After I give LordRuthven his feedback today, I will give him time to make any necessary revisions and then I will wind down the app process a bit early as it seems we have gotten the applicants that we are going to get.

This is going to be tough since I am only accepting 1-2 not the usual 5-6 applicants for a normal game advertisement.

Thanks again everyone!

Onward!

Cheers, Xian

[grifter730]

Hey Xian, I’m gonna have to withdraw from this, sorry. Buddy of mine asked me to run a game since he’s running one for me, and it’s putting me at max capacity would’ve really loved to play this. Good luck everyone else!

[WhiteStag]

Hi Xian.

I have a few more updates to my submission-- Here. Thanks again for taking the time.

Most recent edits are in Dark Blue.

[Xian]

@grifter730,

I appreciate the honesty up front... I know it is often tough to admit that you have too much going on! Best of luck to you on your game and appreciate the effort you had put into this one. It was wonderful reading!

@WhiteStag,

Excellent! I appreciate the great updates!



@LordRuthven,

I have some feedback for you below... Sorry that it took so long, but I had been in and out of the hospital and been falling behind!



@All - Appreciate all of the interest. I will likely close applications in the next 24-48 hours and post the replacement selections after LordRuthven has had a chance to respond. Great work everyone!

Onward!

Cheers, Xian

[Xian]

Team,

With the last of the feedback, I will officially close applications and will go through the final reviews and selection process with those that remain. Expect announcement and selection of new victims players to the game on Friday AM before my flight or during one of my layovers.

Thanks again everyone! If you want to make any changes you have until Friday, but please drop me a note here in the thread so I can consider it. Thanks!

Onward!

Cheers, Xian

[Alyfox]

Salutations! I am going to see if I can come up with something good before the deadline as an application.

[Xian]

Team,

Apologize for the delays but a couple of unscheduled trips to the emergency room has taken me off of my timeline, so appreciate everyone's patience!

So without further adieu, the newest additions to the Forsaken Plane are...

dbaque as the off-worlder Doctor Aurelius Aylmer accompanied by his very own Annabelle!

WhiteStag as the conflicted native Jonathan Rawncer!

Welcome to the game and PMs with reporting information will be following shortly!

For all of the others, I appreciate and laud the great effort each and everyone of you had put into the application process and encourage to keep those great ideas for future use. This is some great stuff you guys had come up with.

Onward!

Cheers, Xian

[Xian]

Recruitment for replacement players! Recruiting for 2-3 replacement players to join an ongoing campaign. I will update the end date for this based on the level of interest. Based on current level of interest, I have set the application deadline to October 05. Update! Instead of a sample post and/or a background that may reach TLDR lengths, I have decided to introduce something a bit unorthodox and one that will also help me to choose players that will not only mesh well with the game but with each other. Once a player has a good character concept completed and I have reviewed and added them to the list of approved candidates, they will go to the following game folder. Here in this forum will be an opportunity to introduce your character to me and more importantly the other candidates. Additionally, this will let me and the other potential players to experience how you interact with one another. The level of interaction and how well you interact with one another will play a significant role along with a strong character concept for acceptance into this game. I believe this method will allow things to come out that would not otherwise be apparent in the traditional static app approach. Firstly, for those that are interested in joining this game, please read the campaign tone and information that is contained in the original advertisement for an understanding of what this game is about as it is not your typical D&D / Pathfinder foray and good triumphs over evil. This Pathfinder campaign is a labor love based on my absolute favorite setting of all time, Ravenloft, and set to capture not just the Gothic atmosphere but its core themes as well. Originally Posted by Xian This thread will contain the information for the Forsaken Plane Campaign World. On the surface, the Forsaken Planes is a low magic setting, not unlike those found on the material plane. Spellcasters are rare, and common folk seldom witness the supernatural, understanding it only through folklore, though that folklore is very prevalent. Subtle and unknown to all but the select and rare few, the natural laws of the Forsaken Plane have been insidiously re-written. Good and Evil - Villainous and Virtuous. Evil is the seed at the heart of the Forsaken Plane. This evil though and those that would become its inmates are not mindless or slavering beasts. At the heart of evil is choice and through those choices the denizens of the Forsaken Plane are damned to torment or redeemed. Mere evil is not enough to attract the Dark Powers or to become Dark Lord on the Forsaken Plane. Despite the corruption of evil and the damned, they share the same motivations as countless other folks; they hope for love, crave respect or even yearn for acceptance. Yet those who turn to evil on the Forsaken Plane are not poor, misunderstood souls damned through no fault of their own. Their selfish natures perverts simple wants and needs into obsessive lusts and they earn their damnation through the commission of horrid crimes. Those damned are all the more monstrous for the empathy one might feel for them, not in spite of it. Even when forced to face their transgressions, most damned remain or choose to remain obstinately blind to their own failings and faults, instead lashing out for perceived wrongs and persecution. Those damned to the Forsaken Planes bound not unlike Tantalus in the underworld, tormented by their greatest desires. This is the point where the characters come in, as stated there is no such a thing as true neutral. Every sentient being has a tendency one way or the other on the ethical and moral axes. The Powers have drawn the characters for a purpose. For the villainous, The Powers will seek to test how far they will go to fulfill their greatest of desires... to see whether they will choose salvation over damnation by denying their greatest desire. In character, this means that the character must find thing to things that would cause them to reconsider... realistically... fulfilling their greatest desire. For the virtuous, The Powers have chosen them not because that they are immaculate or incorruptible. The Powers bring the virtuous to the Forsaken Planes because they possess moral flaws or fault lines that are strong enough to cause a true dilemma when the virtuous battle corruption so that they must choose between maintaining that virtue and something the value or care for very much. The fear of loss because the shadows of greed and lust that easily can turn down a dark path, that once it has a hold will not easily let go. Spells and abilities that detect ethical alignment (law-chaos) functions normally, but no magic can directly and accurately detect the moral alignment (good-evil axis). By shielding evil, mortals/characters must now rely solely on their judgment, to make choices on those judgments, and ultimately live with those consequences. Good and evil are locked in an eternal struggle. Those who preserve their innocence are subtly protected from the forces of darkness, while those who commit evil acts risk falling to these ethereal powers, their minds and bodies slowly warping to reflect their new inner corruption. Those who wholly embrace the lures of The Powers and the evil can and will find themselves bound to the Plane in prisons of their making. (and become NPCs) This is the essence of the Forsaken Plane, where innocence and virtue battle corruption and evil. Where love can destroy or redeem. Where magic cannot overcome morality and divine justice or whatever The Powers may be comes to all. This game is very much role-play over roll play and the decisions that the characters will impact as much, if not more, than the actual dice rolls themselves. The narrative of the character you create will be most important factor for both selection and gameplay itself. If you ask any of the current players, they can tell you that I am more than willing to make mechanical accommodations to fit an excellent concept or idea and it remains consistent with the atmosphere and tone of the game and story. The current character level for the party is 7 and progression will be event/story based vice a tally of experience points, but good role play will reward with in story accommodations and this world's version of hero points to reflect the resilience of our heroes or measure their descent. As general rule, I do not use third party material, but if it fits well within an excellent character narrative and consistent with the tone and atmosphere of the game, I will consider its inclusion. EDIT: Needless to say, the fine caliber of players that I have had the privilege to grace my game is the reason that this story has sustained itself for this long and a lot has happened in the nearly four years of the game's run time. The party (past and current members) have survived several horror scenarios , ranging from a invasion of goblins part of the enigmatic army of demi-humans, known as the Black Wolves, to a night in a deadly haunted manor, to a fighting for their lives in a woods inhabited by an ancient evil to name a few. In each instance, one or more of the characters were presented will dilemmas that tested not so much their strength of arm, but the strength of their character. So with that in mind, I will summarize the current situation and give a short synopsis of the next story arc that those selected in this round of recruitment will be participating in. Currently, the company has finished undergoing a tribunal where they, and in particular the character Kallev Littleton, stood trial for the massacre at the town of Hofstra. Kallev had willingly summoned a dark creature to murder an inquisitor that attempted to arrest her and some members of the party, but ultimately found that she had unleashed a creature far beyond her understanding or control. The creature subsequently slaughtered nearly every man, woman, and child in the town, but had left the party alive and unmarked to witness to their act. The tribunal had found Kallev, Ephram, and another former PC, named Raven guilty for their crimes. Newer arrivals, Jonathan and Aurelius, in addition to former PC, Alexis Lightbringer, were found not guilty. Kallev has been sentenced to public execution for her crimes and now stands in public display. As part of their sentence, the two former PC have been designated as Kallev's executioners. The instrument of the execution is magical orb that will kill the subject, if the activators/executioners know/believe that the subject is guilty of the crime for which they stand accused. So it is at this moment that the story currently stands. By the time, the selection process has been complete this scenario will be concluded and the next major arc of the story will begin. In this arc, the party will begin discovering more of the nature of the Forsaken Planes itself and the Elder Evils that lay imprisoned and slumbering deep within it. The party will encounter those, for myriad of reasons, that will be attempting to awaken and release the Elder Evils and it will be up to our party to stop them or not. There are several subplots that will be developed under this arc with plenty to explore and most importantly RP. Hopefully, I have encapsulated enough information to help those that are interested in the game. If there are those that would like to see the tone and what kind of game you are getting yourself involved with, please feel free to go to the game forum and have a look around. I will set the tentative date for application consideration at the end of the month, but refine the date and the time based on the number and quality of applicants. Again thanks for your interest and look forward to seeing what you got!

Permitted Resources Paizo Pathfinder materials are baseline. Essentially, anything Pazio on the Pathfinder SRD is pre-approved with the exception of races. Still, I reserve the right to restrict anything that I feel is not consistent with the game world. (very, very rare and unlikely that it will ever be invoked... ) Will consider requests for use of other / third party material or adaptation of existing 3.5e material, especially if it is related to Ravenloft, but inclusion will be based on Role Play potential vice Roll Play potential.

Writing Standards Writing standards. Instead of restating what has been said so well by others I refer you to this link reference the famous Art of the Two Paragraph Post article. This is the standard that we all should collectively strive for with every post.

Character Creation - Application I do not want to make this too intense of a writing exercise where you flesh out an in depth history in the application that turns into a novel. The principal point of the application should be a short summary of what the characters motivations, strength, and most importantly flaws are. You do not need to make a character sheet and in fact should not until accepted (I would hate for you to do all of that work), but some people visualize better so here are the basics: UPDATE: The current character level of this game is 7th so accommodate that accordingly in your character write ups . Multi-classing will be permitted. 20 point character buy. Races: All Paizo Core and Uncommon and Featured Races (15 RP or less). All others by DM approval only. Classes: Any Paizo class - Any Archetypes that you are considering - Not bounded to this if you change your mind as long as it does not radically change your overall character concept. Alignment: Any - while a guide this should be tied to your character concept and personality how it should be role played. Basically, this should give me an initial idea of your character's tendencies. Appearance and Personality: Should be a simple extension of the above, but provide a very BRIEF description of the appearance (can use an image) and personality, noting any odd mannerisms. (2-3 sentences max) but I should get a good sense of your character's motivations. Place of Origin: Where does the character come from? Essentially, this breaks down into those born on the Forsaken Plane and those that get brought here from other places in the multiverse. If born in the Forsaken Plane, simply state Forsaken Plane - equivalent Golarian location. If from external to the Forsaken Plane then state indicate where in Golarian they were taken from. I am familiar with other settings, so if you want to go wild and be from Faerun or Eberron let me know. (This does not automatically mean that those racial type available in those settings are available.) The selection means that certain things and skills operate differently for you, especially divine casters and summoner. Character Concept: Use the ten minute background - but try not to make 10 hour background (please). An alternative that I have come to like regardless of what format I am playing is D&D 5E format. The sort of narrative format helps me to get a better feel of the character/player behind it by hearing their "voice". You are welcome to use this format, but you are not bound only the traits, elements, and flaws in the 5e books. Feel free to customize or improvise as you see fit. The only additional item for the 10 minute background or the 5e format is what aspect of your character attracted the attention of the Dark Powers to your character and for those from the outside, abducted to the plane? Initial Sample Post: Write a short introductory post for your character and with the initial hypothetical context that they have just been introduced to the current cast of characters above by mysterious fortune teller. The PCs may know them by reputation or not, but they will not have in depth knowledge of the PCs.

[Keante]

Could you provide a summary of the existing characters in the game, which our new characters would be joining?

EDIT: Here is what I've put together, but I'm not sure who is actually leaving the game.

Character	Race	Class	Continuing?
Dr. Aurelius Alymer	elf	alchemist	yes?
Kallev Littleton	aasimar	sorcerer	no? (about to be executed)
Jonathan Rawncer	aasimar	bloodrager	yes?
Raven	human	inquisitor	yes?
Alexis	shifter	slayer	yes?
Ephram Du'chaine	half-elf	cavalier/rogue	no

[suburbanplankton]

It appears that I applied for this game way back in 2016 when it first started. The fact that it's still a going concern more than two and a half years later makes me want to take another shot at it.

I vaguely remember the character I originally applied with; I think that a couple more years of experience will allow me to do a better job, so I'll [probably be working on a completely new submission.

If we could get a 10,000 foot view of the campaign so far, that might help with creating a character that can fit in easily.