Darkness Rising: AD&D 2nd PBP game

It is a time of great peril for the world of Mystara. An ancient evil is rising to plague the land once again. The ancient prophecies composed over 2,000 years ago are coming to pass. The child of whom it has been said that would herald the coming of the second age of darkness has been born. With her birth, the fall of light is near. All is not lost though. Prophecies speak of a chance that the world may escape its grim fate. The oldest elves tell of the stories that their grandfathers told to them as children. The horrors of the last age, the Age of Darkness may be avoided during the close of this age, the Age of Rebirth. The world has hardly recovered from the death and destruction that marked the dark days of the darkness. Now, the only chance of salvation for this world lies in the hands of a person over 2,500 years old. Unfortunately stories told of his death millennia ago.

Still, the prophecies hold. Seers and visionaries all now predict either darkness and destruction, or a dark-skinned man riding a black horse through a field of blue flowers, chasing the darkness from the land. While the world searches for their savior, a small band of heroes continues their quest: protect the woman that the child of prophecy has grown to be. A man named Darok is trying to capture her. Agents of evil are trying to kill her. The elves of her ancestry are trying to find her to protect her. In the meantime she seeks to be free of her fate, to control her own destiny once again. Her quest for the knowledge of how to regain her freedom has taken her through many trials and tribulations. Adventures to some, perhaps. Maybe even to her if she had been in control of her own fate.

Her quest has been joined by many through her journey. Two have stood close by her on her entire journey. Her loving husband, a priest of the war god Kirn, and a semi-psychotic elven scythe-master. As the shadows are looming on the horizon, and dark clouds choke the farthest skies of the future, these heroes and those who would join them race against the forces of darkness and the ticking clock to save the world from its fate. Even now, the forces of darkness are rallying to the call of their masters, and the rest of the world is preparing for the bloodiest war in over two millennia. Will the savior of the world be found? Will the young woman ever be free of her destiny? Will the world succumb to the darkness? Only time will tell....

Darkness Rising

This was an epic campaign that I started. It ran as a paper and pencil tabletop game for two years at college. Unfortunately, as fate was hanging in the balance, the time constraints of college tore the group of players asunder. My main character no longer thought she wanted to play the plot chew-toy (my bad: I made her a chew-toy w/o asking - it was a learning experience). Of the four other characters, two were almost brand new additions to the plot line at the time that the game was abandoned. The two remainders had been there from the beginning, but neither one had enough free time to play the game. At that point, continuing the game would have caused my ex-roommate's game to not be finished before we graduated (since I played in that one, I wanted to see it end properly). Now I'm continuing the game as a PBP (Play-By-Post) with four of the original cast. New players will be added as needed.

The destined woman has been reborn, the one who would bring the world to its knees, yet also be its salvation. A power of ancient evil has waited for her coming, and is now using the pawns at his command to manipulate her. But there are many people who remember the time of darkness. The oldest of the elves remember the tales that their grandfathers spoke of that dark time. A fight to stop the dark one from releasing the powers of darkness upon the earth a second time is brewing. But are there enough heroes left in the world to end the threat of an evil so old that its true name is lost to the world? In this time of impending doom, a few brave souls will challenge the greatest force of evil in the known world. Will they succeed? Only time will tell...

The Coming Storm

This is the sister game to Darkness Rising. Elsewhere in the world, a band of heroes is trying to follow a trail of evil to its source: the mysterious 'Master'. Darok, the dark one who brought the last Age of Darkness is up to his old tricks, and the party is out to find him and stop him before it's too late to stop his plan to bring a second Age of Darkness to the world.

Visit the TCS web page at http://drothgery.editthispage.com/tcs/.

PBP Rules and Mechanics (Game):

The mechanics for this game will be largely behind the scenes; I roll all dice except those used in character generation. I use AD&D 2nd edition Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monstrous Manual, and an assortment of the reddish-brown paper back class handbooks for the most part. For the setting, I rely on whatever Mystara game supplements I can get my hands on, including a substantial collection of Classic D&D modules and accessories.

Major turns for this PBP go out about once a week. In between, I expect players to interact with each other, then tell me what they, as a group or as an individual, want to do. I prize player-player interaction highly, but do not enforce it other than through experience bonuses.

I ask people to contribute regularly as much as they can. If something planned comes up (vacation, etc.) please let me know ahead of time. If something unexpected happens and a player fails to respond to my messages for longer than 2 or three weeks, I will NPC them until I find a quiet place to temporarily retire his character. If I do not hear from a player for 2 months, I will consider that player to have given up on the game, and bring in a player from the waitlist.

Players wishing to join the game should e-mail me to be put on the waitlist. Character submissions should include an imaginative and well-written history/background. Tell me about the character's personality, how he/she solves problems, and any favorite tactics in combat. Characters should be made using the Player's Handbook only, using any method of rolling dice that the player desires.

Etiquette: I reserve the right to eject any player who repeatedly and knowingly makes others feel uncomfortable. This is a PG-13 game, please. Partial nudity possible, sexual content minimal at best. If you want to see more of this, please excuse yourself and go elsewhere. Disrupted influences will be warned, and ejected if they are ruining the fun of the game for the other players.

My pledge: to provide the best, most enjoyable game possible over e-mail/message board. Toward this end, I will try to reply to all questions during weekdays. I have 2 e-mail addresses at which it is possible to reach me.

VictheDM@hotmail.com (my regular account that I access after hours at work)
vguy@ebmail.gdeb.com (my work account at which I can be reached weekdays between 8 am and 4 pm)

I also will be using the web space at Angelfire to support the game.

Dave suggested that there was too much information for one site, so feel free to peruse the following information at your leisure:

The Characters of DR.
The Kingdoms of Mystara.
The Pantheon of DR.
Kheldar's Tale.
Campaign Log.