daaaaang.  

To be fair, I did PM Eol about our other creative collaborative effort.  So while he doesn't totally get it - the weeks of cringe-inducing jokes he missed - it's not THAT subtle of a subject.

Isn't that the point of an in-joke?  Hello?

I did STRONGLY consider changing your user title to that. 

If they are half of miss Dewdrop here, we'll be in for a treat.

I made a post on a Facebook recruitment group, perhaps we can bring some new blood in.

The NFL is turning into a dumpster fire, lol.

Patriots
Buccaneers
Titans
Chiefs
Giants
Eagles
Seahawks
Packers
Vikings
Raiders
Cardinals
Rams
49ers
Bills
Sains

Even if I have to kill her. 

Whoa.

This is out of my hands, there is no DM in creativity land.  I mean, I could silver screen in some hot cultist lovin', I suppose...

@ Raven's "love you long time" in the new recruitment!

You're welcome. 

Okay, folks.  The recruitment thread for HC2:EB is up.  I have gone ahead and prefilled the slots with everyone from this game, as my understanding is that all surviving characters will be returning for the next chapter.

Well, I mean, Kith will be there, just not as a PC.  But she'll be the deathgod baby mamma, and main squeeze/main torture vitcim of the big bad guy, so... yay?

I have recently completed "The Corruption Hidden Beneath the Surface", a D&D/Horror game that took me four tries - and ten plus years - to complete.  Thanks to some of the absolute best playing I have ever had the pleasure to witness, not only did we complete the adventure, but we took it from the original twisted, horrible idea that I had and elevated that to something spetacularly more horrible, awful, and amazing. 

The idea always was for that adventure - which focused around a plot by the cultists of D'hurgen, the god of death, to impregnate a mortal woman with his "anchor" - a crossbreed of both life and death - whose birth would allow him to fully manifest physically into the world... thus ending creation as we know it - to complete in a given way.

In every draft of the adventure, I expected that the party would either stop the cult and save the world, or that they would die trying.  Instead, something else happened.

One of the PCs was captured by the cult, brainwashed, and willingly elected to become the Vessel to bear that Anchor.  At the end of the game, she escaped with the high priestess of the cult, with the party trapped in the collapsing undergorund temple. 

And here we are.

By popular demand, I am going to launch a new adventure after the New Year, whcih will focus on the quest to locate this former party member, to try to stop the birth of this evil god into the world.  Literally all of reality is at stake.

I need roughly a half dozen players; my five party members have all indicated a desire to keep playing.  So this recruitment thread is largely a formality, though I would truly prefer to land one - perhaps two - dynamite players. 

The game will be set in Audalis (which means that magic is fairly uncommon), and will be my typical modified 2E rules. In other words, this is old school stuff. You don't have to be familiar with 2E rules, and I'll be happy to help you create a character. I handle arcane magic a bit differently than the rules as written, so be advised of that.

If you are comfortable rolling up your own stats, please use the "roll 4d6, drop low roll from each set, arrange to taste" method of character creation. I expect higher than average scores, but if you come to me with three 18s, I reserve the right to nerf your character as I see fit.

Characters will be 4th level for sure, I may decide to handwave and make them 5th level.  We'll see.  The partyis pretty balanced as is; I see a need for a rogue, but another caster would be welcomed.  A warrior type could work with the right story.  Note that this game takes place in Northeast Ertain - one of the five human kingdoms - so understand that really exotic races would probably be out of place, treated poorly by the populace, etc. I will consider any alignment, but this adventure is best suited for a party of overall good alignment (I prefer stories about heroes, not villains). I will consider kits, within reason, but reserve the right to change or veto anything that I don't like.

I expect at least one post per week, and would like to make it two. If posting is really fast and furious, I'll post more often as I'm able. Posts should be at an absolute minimum 2-3 short paragraphs. I want to read about emotions, thoughts, etc. "I charge the orcs!" is not an acceptable post.

Please note that this game is *not* first come, first served. To be considered, I need a PM from you with a basic character concept, a personality, a brief history, etc. I will pick the ideas that I like best, that I feel will form the best team. To clarify, I need more than a character sheet for you to be considered for this game. In fact, the character sheet is the *least* important piece of it. I need to know who your character is. Why do they adventure? What is their personality? You don't have to give me a full biography, but a bit of history would be good.

Understand, this last game spoiled me a lot.  I enjoyed some absolutely SUPERB play, and I'm just not interested in someone joining that has no interest in creative writing. 

You do NOT have to know old school D&D rules.  I will help/handle those for you.  What you do need is the ability to develop a character idea and to truly PLAY that character.  You need to want to work with other people; I don't have the time or inclination for the loner without a cause who is just here to accumulate treaure and XP.  Thanks, but no thanks.

WARNING! I have a reputation as a killer DM, and to be honest, the reputation is at least somewhat fair. I truly don't go out of my way to kill players, but if you do stupid things ("I charge into the bandit camp alone, using surprise to my advantage!"), well... you made that bed, you get to lie in it. That being said, I *have* killed off players simply because the dice were not kind. Adventuring is dangerous business, and death is a real part of it. If you sign up to play and you die, please don't take it personally.

WARNING! This adventure will contain disturbing, adult/horror themes. If you are easily offended, squeamish, or bothered by the macabre, please do not apply. While this game will *not* contain anything truly explicit, the themes prompt me to limit this game to those age 18 and up.  While most of the more sexually oriented material was probably covered in the original game, such things may come up again.  Again, we will include nothing explicit, but if any reference to adult relationships or sexuality bothers you, then please apply to another game.  If torture, psychological abuse, or cultlike mentalities are a problem for you, then you will not enjoy this game - and that's okay!

WARNING! In the first game, two player characters died horribly, a third was brainwashed into joining the death cult and carrying an undead baby, and a fourth was mentally scarred to the point that she considered suicide and ended the game emotionally shattered (and essentially catatonic).  Odds are overwhelming that one or more of the party will suffer a gruesome fate in this installment - and it is ENTIRELY possible that everyone will die.  This game is far riskier than my traditional adventures - and as I have mentioned, I am absolutely the sort of DM that will allow characters to die.  If that doesn't work for you... again, you may wish to skip this game. 

Wait... you're still reading?  Okay, then.  I'd love to read your application!



Approved character concepts:

Moreno "Gib" Enderedre: Male human cleric of Therassor (Bromern Sal)
Ch'dau: Male kazari fighter (Eol Fefalas)
Aranwen Galandel: Female sylvari bladesinger (Reralae)
Cedric (???): Male human cleric of solanis (Raven)
Siobhan "Shiv" Dellagan: Female human mage (breebles)
Einar Holgersson: male human rogue (CameToPlay)

Fur I can deal with.  Grugg back hair, I can deal with. 

It's the sticky sluids and questionable plastics that scare me.  And the mold that has grown in them.

New hoses, pump maintenance... that thing is FUNKY.

Dude, what is this in the filter? 

Never mind.  Don't tell me.  I do NOT want to know.

Drunk chat isn't the worst idea I've ever heard.

For the record, I would consider a level adjustment before then. 

Tee hee.  I love funny jokes!

That was QUICK. 

Smart players make a DM's job so much more challenging.  And amazing.  And frustrating, .

I love the idea.  Some time to learn what needs to be learned about this death god spawn.  Find a mage who can cast such a divination (sounds like a trip to Felarin might be in order?).  And off on an adventure to save de world...

It's probably good that they don't know how real they are.

I thinkt hat a break of a few months to research and figure things out, find a way to scry or whatnot, makes so very much sense. 

I think that you are very spot on with the strength of the bladesinger and their oath.  

A few observations:

There was no way to know which path would lead to disaster in the temple. 

Aranwen saved the party with her surrender.  Garrack would have let the ghouls kill everyone.  Where there is life, there is hope.

These battles were lost, yes.  But had she not made that wise choice, everyone dies.  No one knows of the conception of the death god's spawn, who is able to be born in secrecy, rise to power and end all of reality unchallenged.  As it stands now, the party can regroup, warn their organizations, proceed to search for Kith and end the threat.  Perhaps they can redeem her; if not, they can at least save everyone else. 

I think that some time with a priest could perhaps make those truths clear.  Perhaps Ara could draw strenth from that purpose, that redemption.

No doubt, the pet cat KILLED me. 

For the record - if you want to get really, really technical, Davena is absolutely, 100% a victim, herself.  She is 100% batcrap crazy like Kith is.  Had she not been taken as a teenager, she's be a priestess of Miellyah now, helping deliver babies and bless crops.

...was exactly my thought, as well. 

I fully agree, there are no switches to fix a brain.  Physical wounds are one thing; mental and emotional are quite another.  You get the scarring, you get the coping, the blockign away, and so on.

But take Kithran, who has been brainwashed a couple of months now.  What if there were some way to give her true clarity, absolute truth that she had been tortured and broken and filled with lies that she had grabbed onto in order to survive?  If she could reject the new reality (D'hurgen is my pal, this is the right thing to do, etc), could she get on the road to recovery? 

So sorry to disappoint you with SURVIVAL, Brom! 

Somebody needs to enlighten me.

How is Aranwen classless?  I don't see that she has done anything to lose her class abilities.  Her blade was dishonored by surrendering it... she did not retrieve it.  She's done nothing but fight gallantly, putting everyone else ahead of herself.  Yes, she broke her vow to always protect Kith, but no one in Audalis would hold her to that (except, obviously, herself)... there was literally nothing she could have done. 

It seems to me that rescuing/redeeming Kith - or killing her to save the world - would be the appropriate pennance. 

then again, I'm a selfish DM. 

I really, really hurt for Aranwen.  I really do. 

Bree and I have had all sorts of conversations about healing in a fantasy world.  If wounds can be healed without a thought, if the dead can be brought back to life, if magic can be used to break minds in a way not possible in the real world... is there no magic to help heal minds?  Not a snap of the fingers, but no way to help show a litle truth, help find the path to redemption?

I find Aranwen to be one of the most compelling characters I have ever read.  I hate to lose her.

I don't want to step on any toes.  But as soon as Bree brought up the idea of brainwashing, the idea of turning this into a campaign has been screaming in my head. 

You have your big plot already - save the world, durr. 

But what a COMPELLING story it would be to see how Aranwen and Ch'dau go forward from here with their family broken by this. 

The betrayal is real to everyone, obviously.  It just seems so obvious that the surviving party members would stick together and try to find Kith.  Though... how does that go?  "Hi Kith, we brought you a coat hanger!"  Eeesh.

Maybe recruit another player or two.  Obviously, Bree needs a new character to warp me with...

So, funny you should mention "what is to come". 

This game was always, always intended to be a stand alone adventure.  A one shot deal, the party stops the death cult and saves the world - or dies trying.

And then, Bree came along and wrecked it all by taking the twisted darkness and ramping it up exponentially. 

The party failed to stop the death god from being conceived.  Can they stop him from being born?

If there is interest, I will post a recruitment thread for Hidden Corruption 2: Electric Boogaloo.

Okay, the title is still in review. 

Reralae, I didn't mean to ninja you.  I can delete my post, let you post, add mine back.