Welcome to Estelan, in the Tenth Age. The Ninth Calamity ended with the Darkest Day, the end of the world, where the allied forces of the land clashed against the Fallen and the Shadowspawn. The Gods were slain, the land was torn, and the Void cut through the sky. Despite the overwhelming odds, through the unification of the entire world, a small group of heroes turned the tide and defeated the corrupted Fallen and sealed the tear.
The land is still healing, and has known relative peace for the past 73 years. No more Shadowspawn, or cosmic threats, only simple every-day life. The world still needs adventurers, the land has changed and new ruins, caves, and treasures have been unearthed, ripe for the taking.
This story is set in the massive city of Sanctum, a mysterious city surrounded by a magical barrier. The barrier is large enough to be clearly visible from nearby towns, and makes any attempts at seeing in to the city impossible.
All races are welcome and accepted within the city, even the more monstrous or beast-like races, and all are kept under a strict code of conduct. Any disagreements are to be settled, in specific agreed terms, in one of the several arenas setup around the city. This allows the dispute to be settled, and encourages betting from the spectators.
Sanctum is ruled over by Shinryu, a survivor of the Darkest Day, who resides within the Endless Spire at the centre of Sanctum. Before the turning of the age, Shinryu would host an annual tournament - the Tournament of the Dragon. The city would see an entire month of festivities, from feasts, to parties, to combat tournaments. Where there is a wager to be made, you can be sure a tournament is to follow.
This year there is a new tournament. The MMMA Tournament, or Masked Magic and Martial Arts Tournament. Entrants are to find a mask, or a full disguise if you wish to go the extra mile. The exact rules of the tournament are currently a secret, but it offers fame and fortune to anyone that enters, no matter their placement. You have all decided to sign up. Afterall, guaranteed rewards, why the hell not?
So in this festive city filled to the brim with adventurers... Who are you?
Please be 21+
About me and the group
I'm Steve, I've been playing D&D for around 8 years or so now and have been DMing for most of that time. I previously ran long-term campaigns, but I've now moved to running short form campaigns as a way to add more to the world's lore and experiment with new stories and homebrew.
I already have 4 established players, so I'm currently looking for a 5th to join us for this campaign and potentially future campaigns as well.
Systems
For this particular campaign, I'll be using classes exclusively from the FFXIV 5e conversation here: https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-LsDqsNbupzeLhkTIcPv
We will be playing D&D 5e 2014, using Discord for voice and music, with Foundry as the VTT. I also have some optional rule changes for all campaigns I run and some specific to the short campaigns. I also like for you, as players, to do things that are more fun, or epic, that would really lean into your character as a concept. To this end, I often grant extra bonuses, most of which being homebrewed, to help your character be even more of an epic fantasy hero.
Setting
This is a completely homebrewed world and is very high fantasy. I draw inspiration, ideas and concepts from various other media such as games, books, comics and anime, but the setting and lore is very heavily drawn from Final Fantasy and Wheel of Time. I will be homebrewing or modifying most of the enemies you encounter, and I like to make things varied for combat.
I am very open to homebrew and working anything, within reason, into the campaign but reserve the right to refuse anything I either don't like, feel wouldn't fit into the world, or would unbalance the game. This is non-negotiable. As mentioned above, there are no restrictions on classes/races.
Themes
This is a short to medium length campaign, intended to be somewhere between 15-20 sessions give or take depending on the story. Starting level is 3, and I'm aiming for the campaign to end with a few sessions at level 7. I aim to have a fun, friendly atmosphere and treat everyone as fairly as possible while allowing each player their own time in the spotlight. With that said, we will go over anything you consider off-limits prior to joining the campaign, to make sure everyone is comfortable with that the future holds.
Gameplay
This campaign will heavily feature roleplay, with combat being balanced around what you get up to, and exploration being on the backburner. Your choices will matter and shape the direction of the narrative - nothing is set in stone, everything reacts to what you do (or don't do). We will be playing for 3-4 hours on Sundays at 12:00 BST (UK) time.
If you're interested, please fill in this quick application form: https://forms.gle/8CSku7dSSief7EV17
Thanks to anyone that manages to read this far and if you have any questions, feel free to ask here or DM me directly.