The Gardens of Evenswald - 5e D&D Campaign with a New DM (full) (possible Isekai?)

[Idea]

Come one, come all, to the great chase of the year! Will YOU be the one to take the great prize and present the Honorary Philrocks to lord Nothwinger?

Adventure! Who can forget the great skirmishes of Allard the Bog, covering the field in a thick fog to take the initiative, or the magnificent duels of lord Haal, for his honor and his philrocks?

Community! Each and every one of the collected philrocks will be graciously put to use for the good of the city you and your fellow citizens live in every single day!

Wit! Display the depths of your knowledge by uncovering never before seen philocerite deposits! Solve the great puzzles of nature, and perhaps earn yourself a recommendation from the headmasters among our audience!

Profit! A hefty reward awaits the winners, and participants that contribute enough might even be allowed to take some philocerites of their very own!

Fun! With safety-oriented rules and healers at the ready, use this event as a bonding experience for your friends, family and that special someone!

All are welcome, and THIS YEAR we bring you a SPECIAL OFFER! For every black runed chard you bring, the city will trade in 200 Philocerite, valid for the contest's prize! What are you waiting for, come and test your mettle!

Greetings everyone! Hopefully that little announcement there caught your eye, because I intend to run a D&D 5e campaign for the very first time.

To make everything clear: the campaign will start out with a small treasure hunt of sorts, where people hunt for philocerites (or as they are commonly known, philrocks), a magical form of crystal used for a multitude of purposes, including as premium records, or material for spells and magic items. Your character does not necessarily have to be a participant, however, they could simply be someone working as staff for the event or a spectator that came to watch it.

As for how this campaign will play out in terms of means of play, there are two possibilities:
1. Play-By-Post (350 word requirement on non-combat, 150 during combat)
2. Sessions (requires all our schedules to be compatible for a few hours once or twice a week)

More Details:
Setting/Campaign - Original / Homebrew (very high magic setting. Will also give players the option to make this an isekai RP)

Allowed material- Anything official, including the planeshift documents, unearthed arcana that hasn't been revised into official material yet, potentially some homebrew (for sure a couple of mine, but I doubt anyone will want to try them)

Starting Level: 3, will level up by milestones

OOC Discussion - there will be a discord server for this.


I intend for players to have a very character/player driven story- you decide what you want to do, and I'll show you what happens and build the story around it. I'll also, of course, do my best to weave the character's individual stories together and with the campaign narrative.

I look forward to any takers! Feel free to ask questions below if you have any!


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Currently have some takers from a D&D group I was previously with though our GM had to leave due to personal circumstances, so I'm only looking for a couple more people.

 

[Spiderheart]

Cautiously interested. Can I get some more lore context? What are the setting's major sources of conflict? What's the metaphysics of the setting, in TL; DR form?

 

[Idea]

Can I get some more lore context?

I'd be more than happy to provide

What are the setting's major sources of conflict?

Within the main area in which the roleplay takes place, you have:
*Political tension with the nearby city-states who boast of greater opulence and military power than the country, kept in check only because they see each other as potential targets and enemies as well, thus allowing the kingdom to serve as a force of stability by threatening to rise against whichever one is the initial aggressor.

*Several tribes exist within the borders of the country in question, inhabiting rather inhospitable lands. It's not uncommon for them to try to attack nearby settlements or passerbies, even potential trying to take over some villages.

*Until not long ago, deities roamed the land. Some were helpful, others wrathful, but not long ago they showed their true colors and began sowing pain and destruction throughout the world. They haves since been stopped, some disappeared, some contained or otherwise stopped. Many remain simply dormant, and could yet be awakened, and their power lives on through the Tyrant's Commands. Furthermore, the lands once dependent on their aid had to learn to live without them, though as can be expected not everyone was able to cope so well.

*Ruins are spread all throughout the continent, remnants of the greatest war it has ever seen. There are countless mysteries to uncover from them, if one can simply understand what they are looking at - and get past the things which guard them.

*Not necessarily a source of conflict per say, but as you probably already guessed philocerite is a pretty big deal in this setting for its many applications. That itself isn't conflict, but something is coveted, well, there's conflict which could be created from the chase.

The setting is very new, and I mostly focused what I worked on on the area which the players are going to start in and likely go through the campaign in- although if they end up moving to another part of the continent, I'll go work on that part of the setting as well. There are more major conflicts behind the scenes, but for one I won't spoil them, and for another they don't seem the type of thing level 3 characters could do anything about.

Lastly I intend to incorporate the player's backstories to develop more existing conflicts or even create new ones to weave into the setting.

What's the metaphysics of the setting, in TL; DR form?

What do you mean by "the metaphysics of the setting"?

 

[pbtenchi]

I’m interested.

 

[Idea]

I’m interested.

Awesome, welcome!

 

[Felix]

Hey Idea, long time no see. I would be interested in joining.

 

[Idea]

Hey Idea, long time no see. I would be interested in joining.

Alrighty! I'll still leave Spiderheart the option of joining in case they are interested after all, but other than Felix is the last one (bar some mass migration)!

 

[Spiderheart]

As in, what's the sort of cosmic structure, as far as is popularly known? You mentioned deities roaming the land, so that's relevant; is there a consistent creation myth, or do different cultures disagree? Are any gods still worshipped?

 

[Idea]

As in, what's the sort of cosmic structure, as far as is popularly known? You mentioned deities roaming the land, so that's relevant; is there a consistent creation myth, or do different cultures disagree? Are any gods still worshipped?

Put simply, until recently you practically couldn't throw a stone anywhere in this setting without landing on the grounds of some different religion. There was a new one every corner. People still believe in religions and have different ideas on how the world came about (it'd be a bit hard to say there are no gods when those very same gods were blowing stuff up a little over a decade ago) but active worshippers have dropped considerably. Still, many do still worship, but those not in cults tend to worship more abstract forces or unseen deities.

 

[Spiderheart]

Awright, great. I'm interested.

 

[Idea]

Awright, great. I'm interested.

I'll invite you to the PM with the link to the discord then!

 

[Orikanyo]

Eyy yo ya'll alive here?

 

[Idea]

Eyy yo ya'll alive here?

I suppose. Also full.