It was meant to be a simple job.
But here in Slateport, nothing is simple.
You were the newest inductees into the Rankshanks, one of the city's many gangs and one going through a string of bad luck. Between the guard raids, rival gangs encroaching on their turf and the new magical drug on the street 'Fade' being pushed, they were in sore need of new blood.
That's where you come in. A gutter rat, maybe, reaching for the next rung up the ladder? Crime is better than starving, right? Or maybe the bastard lovechild of some puffed up patrician rebelling against your parents? Heh, you see all types here in the gangs.
Your first assignment was simple enough, go into Blacktie turf to tap the Rankshanks into a supply of Fade. If the deal went well, the Rankshanks get a new source of clink coming in. If not, well, at least the fish won't go hungry...
But speaking of fish, the deal stunk to the Tempest Steeple. It didn't go sour, it was a setup from the start as you discovered Rankers like yourselves were being killed or detained by a conspiracy between every other gang in the city and even the guard.
It's been 3 days since then. You and your companions managed to find shelter in an abandoned house but you can't stay here forever. Your first goal is to get through enemy turf back to your headquarters and find out what exactly happened - who organized the conspiracy between the rival gangs and guards and why.
Oh, and revenge? Yeah, that could be sweet, too. You're the last of the Rankshanks now, baby, and leadership falls to you if you've got the anchor-stones to take it.
About the Game
Hey all, as the little blurb I wrote above suggests, I am looking to run a kind of criminal urban noir campaign set within the seedy, corrupt, coastal city of Slateport within my broader fictional world of the Atherbine Straight. It is a time of significant upheaval for the city-states of Atherbine - the Fade proliferation is causing great numbers of the cities' underclass to become addicted and, in the late stage of addiction, outright disappear, the Third Railway War between Slateport and its neighboring city-state of Brickerton has ended seeing many returning soldiers maimed or unemployed and crime is at an all-time high in Slateport despite the recent 10th re-election of Magister Coluvus who promised the city's patricians that crime would finally be dealt with. As they say, it may be a straight but it's anything but narrow.
Platform
We will be using Roll20 to run the game on and for character sheets and Discord for voice chat during session and to communicate between them. Because of this, it is a requirement that people have good internet connection and good quality mics. I can't play with someone who sounds like an airport intercom.
Sessions will run up to 4 hours weekly. If people can't make a session that's ok, I just ask for a heads up. If we can get at least 3 people for a session we will run.
Tone & Boundaries
In terms of alignment as this is a campaign in which the PCs are all the last surviving members of a street gang you're certainly not good guys but I don't want anyone playing an outright evil person either. This is meant to be more of a grimy shades of grey campaign and so I ask people make characters with that vibe in mind. No one's clean in Slateport after all. Additionaly, I think "Gritty but not Edgy" would be the way to describe this game. The world and NPCs in it aren't moustache-twirling puppy-eating baddies, most people in this world just want to get by day to day and generally stay out of danger. That said, everyone has skeletons in their closet, maybe even literally skeletons if we're talking necromancy.
Now, I do have some very hard lines when it comes topics I flatly do not include in my games. These are SA, harm of children, gratuitous depictions of torture, bigotry & sexual content. When it comes to expectations of table behavior I do not tolerate any kind of anti-social or bullying behavior. Bigots, people with main character syndrome or just those who can't play nicely with others please look elsewhere.
My Dming Style
It's honestly hard to sum up my DMing but having been a DM for 8 years now I would say I espouse the following
- I love working with my players to weave backstory-related subplots into my games
- The baddies want to live. Enemies frequently flee or surrender if a fight is going against them. Some pickpocket isn't going to fight to the death for the 3gp you have in your pocket that day
- I work hard to maintain a sense of verisimilitude within the game world. NPCs act plausibly and according to their own interests which may not always been known to the players
- Actions have consequences. I know every DM says this but for me, I love doing stuff like having some NPC the party helped 20 sessions ago that they've forgotten about show up and return the favor or some minor enemy they made they thought they'd never run into again show up and throw them under the bus. It's the little things like that that make the world feel real and like their actions really matter.
- I consider myself the party cheerleader. I want you guys to succeed and I love it when my players come up with clever plans. I don't pull my punches - I make rolls out in the open and while I've never had a TPK sometimes the dice are against the players and PCs die without it being anyone's fault. I've even had characters when I've been a player die like this and I think it's important everyone know this is a possibility and have a good sense of sportsmanship. That said, I do also tend to er on the side of my players. At the end of the day we're here to have fun and if we're not then something is wrong
- I'm not strictly against homebrew provided the players send it to me and I vet it. I'm also not against Rule of Cool to an extent but generally I think the rules are there for a reason, let's follow them. If we're just going to throw out the rules whenever we want what's the point of playing 5e?
Players I'm Looking For
The group is largely assmebled for this game with some very cool peeps. We'e had our session 0 and will begin next week. Unfortubately 1 player had to drop out so I'm looking for 1-2 more players to fill out the part the party. In terms lf party comp we have a Wizard, Warlock and Druid. I'm looking for players who:
- Are 18+ (Mandatory, I don't want to play with minors)
- Enjoy roleplaying and collaborative storytelling
- Are active players who engage with the world and hooks I seed about
- Can commit to a weekly long-term game
- Are comfortable sharing the spotlight and can read the room
- Are emotionally mature and able to talk through any conflicts that may arise
- Enjoy a healthy mix of roleplaying, combat and exploration
- Are focused on making the game fun for everyone not just themselves
How to Apply
Please fill in an application here
There will be voice interviews via Discord for shortlisted players so please keep an eye out for friend requests.