War of the Spider Queen 5E

War of the Spider Queen - DnD 5e either system is fine

Menzoberanzan: A name known well in the surface world and the Underdark as well. Here the eight (8) most powerful Drow houses rule over the city. Here evil plans are hatched, and evil is wrought upon the surface. You are a member of one house in this dark place. A single slice of good within the darkest of places.

House Platin: So named because your ancestors found a valuable vein of platinum in the ground. Your house is 14th in power not large enough to be consulted by more powerful families yet not so small that you are entirely ignored in the largest of power plays between houses. This is good for you because your house holds a secret that, were it to be found out, would utterly destroy you. Your house has been devoted to Eilistraee and your Matron mother holds on to a secret apparently even more dangerous than that a secret known only to her and her wives.

Matron Mother - Lady Platin - Cleric
Wife - Amethyst Platin - Wizard
Wife - Diamond Platin - Druid
Wife - Ruby Platin - Fighter
Wife - Emerald - Rogue
Magister - Vern (a lich)
High Priestess - 1st Daughter Silveria
House Gardener - 1st daughter of Diamond - Canary
Leader of the Guard - 1st son of Ruby - Corubon
House Wyrm - Dakon the Black (a black dragon)
House Smith - Emmet Smith (A human smith)

You will start as a member of House Platin, you need not have the name as they adopt many Drow from around the city. The house is dedicated to finding a path towards good as impossible as that may seem. Because of how you were raised or how you were adopted into the house you are fiercely dedicated to your house; you love your house it is a small slice of peace and order in a world filled with chaos and backstabbing. Most of your family members can be trusted and those who can't are well known to you and purposefully kept out of important tasks or, when necessary, they are removed from existence.

This Game will start your character around 10th level and move on up to around 20 (if you stay with me long enough). I am building it based some on the City of The Spider Queen and Menzoberranzan books along with my reading of the War of The Spider Queen with a whole lot of personalization of plots and ideas.

The Major things you will be dealing with are Intrigue from other houses, spreading heresy, and dealing with the upcoming Silence of Lolth (around 1372). Expect to interact in a major way with the "Cannon" of Faerun and, with some luck or skill, potentially break it.


What am I looking for?
1) Characters who have a strong bond to their house and who would never think of betraying it. You can be as evil as you like but you had best find a reason for your character to want to do what their Matron Mother says and wants to keep them and their family safe.

2) People who plan to stick around or, if you're going to leave, please just let me know...

3) I will be posting on Tues & Thurs please be able to reply on that schedule

4) PHB+DMG+1 other source for character creation (except cantrips and race)

5) A Nice application

Name: Your Character's Name

Race: Other Races beyond Drow are allowed. House Platin takes many in and has no actual slaves. They treat all within their walls well and with actual kindness. It makes their defenses some of the strongest in the city.
Be Warned: outside of the house your character will be expected to act with extreme deference to any Drow they meet.

Alignment: Evil alignments allowed please see above and explain why your evil character is attached to this good house.

Class: What is your class

Family Rank: Less important in house Platin but how closely related to the Matron Mother are you? You may be as close as her fourth child or one of the second children of her sister wives. You may be as far from her as recently adopted by the house or just bought and freed. Feel free to name and make up the personalities of your parents if they are not specifically listed in the House Platin structure above.

Appearance: What do you look like. Description required. Pictures allowed but not required

Background: Who are you related to? What was your upbringing like? How does it feel to be raised in a loving household when seeing the rest of the Underdark? Were you adopted and why? Were you purchased/freed and why did you stay?

The Player: Have you played with me before? What makes you want to play this game? Do you really think you'll stick with this for at least a year? How about 5?

I'm tempted and if I can come up with a character concept, I'll let you know.

What are these magical accedens tables you have in the game details?

I'm going to start brainstorming a character...

When you say either system is fine do you mean we can settle on one that we'll all use, or can mix and match from editions?

If you want your character to go to one of the Famous Schools in Menzoberanzan and get a coveted +2 to an attribute or attack score for fighters, then you roll on the table. I'll add it in an information post that I haven't gotten to yet

I feel like with 5E mix and match is fine. There's nothing that is truly game breaking, especially once you hit level 10.

Oh and I will very, very, much need a Priestess of Eilistraee though you'll also get one as an NPC.

Mark me interested! I have no characters for this sort of setting yet, but I would happily play your Priestess of Eilistraee. I also have a Paladin, a Rogue/Ranger hybrid, and a Blade singer on deck.

I have an idea I want to run by @Ysolde first
Forge of the artificer should have been released in august, but have been pushed to December. I will properly get it at that point.

Would it be okey if I made a drow artificer using the UA Artificer rules until then?
She attended the university where she lost a leg or an arm, but changing her study to that of the Armourer allowed her to make an armour that could replace her missing limb.

Sure!

I can’t recall seeing too many actual applications here so feel free to PM me or just respond with a decent application and I’ll send you a join invite.
Definitely want a priestess!

Sounds good, I would definitely be interested in joining a long term campaign! I’ve never played a drow or in an underdark setting but I am familiar with it having read a few books from way back when.

Your posting rate works well for me and generally Im a regular poster and if need be can respond fairly quickly to keep things moving along.

As far as what I would be interested in playing…Probably something off the beaten path. How does this sound?

Mechanically: Variant Human Monk, Way of Shadow.

Thematically: Part of a breeding program to create the perfect soldier. Tough, loyal, and quickly replaceable. Unnatural selection combined with Drow magic created the shadowborn, a line of engineered warriors forged in darkness, bred for obedience, and trained to vanish like ghosts into shadow. His humans instincts were left in place. Maybe on purpose, or maybe he’s an outlier. Either way he’s being field tested.

Ooh, Underdark intrigue, I'm definitely down. I'm still working on the full details, but I'm thinking of some sort of a rogue type of character. I'll write up a proper application tonight.

I'm withdrawing my interest again. A posting rate of 2 pr week is to slow for me.

Alright. I have a few ideas but the one I think I'd most like to play is...

Name: Daelan Galdrek

Race: Human (Variant)

Alignment: Chaotic Good (Does what he feels is right, regardless of social conventions.)

Class: Fighter/Paladin/Warlock

Family Rank: Adopted into the family a number of years ago. Not being a Drow, he'll forever be fairly low rank although he's done enough in his years to be accepted and trusted.

Appearance: Currently thinking of a clean cut military man, sort of a knight in shining armor vibe.

Background: Daelan was born to a small family (city/town can be determined based on plot as needed). His father was a smith, his mother a barmaid. At 17 he joined the army.

The underdark has always been a bit of an issue. It seems things are fine, then there's invariably some sort of conflict. During one such conflict, Daelan's unit routed some drow (not of House Platin) and were pursuing. They ran directly into an ambush, and it was brutal. Daelan was left for dead, his own unit fleeing when they started taking heavy losses. It was a member of House Platin that found the young man and took him home, to save his life. (Could have been Corubon, someone slightly lower ranking, or just a guard or scout -- your choice.) Daelan swore a life debt to that drow. (He also holds a bit of a grudge against his own unit for abandoning him.)

He hasn't visited home since, but he does keep in touch.

Have you played with me before? No, I don't believe so. Not on any game that lasted, at least.

What makes you want to play this game? The Underdark is an underused setting, IMO, amd a "fish out of water" seems even more pronounced than it would be in a more traditional campaign setting. (Also, getting to play around with a character higher than 5-6th level seems fun from a mechanical standpoint.)

Do you really think you'll stick with this for at least a year? How about 5? I've only quit about 3 games (and those were due to compatability issues, which do happen sometimes... it's a big world, not everyone will mesh). All the rest have ended for one reason or another. I am currently in a few with some real time logged. I see no issues with sticking it out.

Posting on Tues & Thurs.: That's fine. I am usually on in the morning, with weekends being a bit hit or miss. Depending on time zones (-8/-7 GMT, depending on Daylight Saving Time), it may end up as a Wednesday and Friday morning posts.

As for Books... the DMG doesn't have much for PCs. That said, between both PHBs and Xanathar's I should be fine. Might pull a few feats from here and there, if that's ok?

(I will say, I try to hit the broad strokes with things like concept and origin, but I often leave details to be fleshed out in-game... primarily because sometimes it's easier to come from a particular town or have a particular friend than to make the DM jump through even more hoops. I try to make it easy to fit the narrative rather than have the narrative conform to me.

But... if you'd rather I nail down all the minutia ahead of time, just say so.)

It should be 3/week though to be honest I usually can't seem to get that many posts from 4-5 people.

Color me intrigued! If there's still room, mark me down as another interested party, and I'll start cohering together a character concept.

Yep, still looking. I have invited two so far and need at least 4 and would love to have 5-6

Okay, characters:
Character 1: the Priestess

Name: T'rissae Platin

Race: Drow

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Class & Level: Twilight Cleric 10

Appearance: to be decided, probably young and beautiful

House Rank: she is a daughter of the family, maybe 4th or 5th daughter of Lady Platin?

Background: in broad strokes, she was born and raised in Menzoberanzan by the family and looks up to her mother as a guiding light.

Character 2: the huntress

Name: Shrieyl Kent'tar

Race: Drow

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral, but flexible in this

Class: Undecided Rogue/Gloomstalker Ranger

Family Rank: adopted daughter of one of Lady Platin's wives, and sworn to their service and/or in a relationship with Corubon

Appearance: sharp features, like the edge of a blade, and eyes that never smile.

Background: Shrieyl is a hunter of men and monsters, a feared bounty hunter, assassin, and slave catcher. While out of the city on a hunt, she was drawn to the song of Eilistraee and entranced by what she found. Soon after, she found her connection in House Platin and swore her service on the spot.

Questions about me:

Have you played with me before?: I believe we were in a few games together in TavernKeeper back when it was still active.

What makes me want to play this game?: it's been a while since a game concept grabbed my full attention and inspired multiple characters. I also am really interested in the political intrigue and the setting as a whole.

Do you really think you'll stick with this for at least a year? How about 5?: I'm here for the long haul. Both the games I'm in here are carry-overs from TavernKeeper, and both have been going on for years.

Posting on Tues & Thurs.: sounds like a plan to me :)

Consider this my application! Of course all of this is subject to change if it helps to move the story along.

---

Name: Neeko

Race: Human (Variant)

Alignment: Neutral Goood

Class: Monk - Way of Shadow

Family Rank: Adopted. But human.

Appearance: Very pale but not an albino. He has never seen the light of day. Bald by choice, a string of tattoos in illithid psionic script run the length of his spine to base of his skull. He is aware that his heritage can be problematic amongst other drow so he tries to hide his features or otherwise make himself part of the background

Background: Still working on it, but here is the gist. Neeko is a bit of mystery. Found after a raid on an illithid outpost he was found incased in glass and submerged in an organic gel. A human child, in an illithid lab, in the underdark. A strange thing even here.

Presented to the matron mother as a trophy the child began to stir, not dead just in a deep deathlike sleep. Curiosity brought her closer and childs eyes flicked open to suddenly meet hers. A psionic trigger opened the child’s mind and he imprinted on the matron mother like she were his own. His loyalty absolute.

As the child grew it became apparent this was no normal child. This child thrived in the darkness and moved with drow grace. Magister Vern believes that Neeko is the product of a rumored illithid program that sought to blend psionics and breeding to create living weapons.

---

Have you played with me before? Possibly?

What makes you want to play this game? I love DND! The setting is fascinating and although I have never played in the underdark, Ive read a Dritz book or two. Also, starting at level 10 is a plus. It’s the rare campaign that starts at level 1 and makes it to 10. Would be fun to know what its like to play a higher tier character.

Do you really think you'll stick with this for at least a year? How about 5? If the campaign is active and interesting for sure! The only thing I can promise you is that if for some reason I do leave I will be completely honest with my reasons and will not ghost the campaign. I’ve been a part of too many campaigns with both player and DM that have done this and it’s a pet peeve of mine.

Posting on Tues & Thurs.: Works for me! Im in the US East Cost GMT -5 I normally post daylight working hrs.

I wish someone was watching me when I saw this thread title because I'm curious how big my eyes got. I loved the War of the a Spider Queen book series so much that I read it twice. I can't usually bring myself to repeatedly consume the same media, so re-reading 6 books really says something to me.

Opening up the potential to break the canon is fascinating so even if I don't get to play in this game, I will happily read along to see what y'all do.

I see the game is marked as Closed, but if a substitute is ever required, I would happily throw my hat in.
I see no reason why this can't be done. I could make a character who is absolutely loyal to his Matron Mother, and where a drow's loyalty lies, so does his desire to protect.
As part of the social contact, I agree to see this game through. Should circumstances arise that prevent me from fulfilling my obligations, I will be forthcoming and discuss with the DM.
Does this mean we are to post on those days or that we are to post between them? If the latter, then Wednesday will be very busy for this game.
I have access to the PHB, DMG, and XGE.
Name: Kalafein Platinum, Kal for those he is close to.

Race: Drow

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Class: Abjuration Wizard, an Abjurer.
He had to learn how to protect himself from bullies at Sorcere.

Family Rank: Kalafein is son to Bruvyr and Larzina, grandson to Amethyst. Being the daughter to Matron Mother Platin, Larzina was a bit overprotected, leading her to be optimistic but ignorant of the worst parts of Drow society. Kal’s father was a clever but greedy houseless rogue that found himself rescued by Larzina after a night of unfortunate luck in gambling.

Appearance: Despite being of a noble house, Kalafein doesn’t bother with intricate hairstyles. Instead, his white, shoulder-length hair is pulled back and secured with various pins so he doesn’t have to bother with it. Kal’s red-flecked amber eyes might be the most notable thing about him. He favors wearing an indigo scarf and simple black robes.

Background: Born into House Platin and the direct grandson to Matron Mother Platin’s wife Amethyst, Kalafein did not lean toward the more physical aptitude tests, but the mental tests put him on the path to Sorcere. His upbringing was two-fold. On the one hand, he was shown the loving way of The Dark Maiden. One the other hand, it was drilled into him that the rest of the Drow people were not like his family. Leaving for Sorcere was simultaneously thrilling and terrifying.

The Player: We’ve not played together yet. I took some time away after running a game that lasted 4 years. I’ve been considering running another game or most likely play in one, but nothing has caught my attention until now. The intrigue and potential canon altering has me very interested to be a part of this. I’m willing to put in the time for this game and understand that going from level 10 to 20 could take years.

That is on me, I forgot to open it.

In my last run getting 2/week from the players was best I could get. If we go to 3 that’s great!

Name: Borwald (Bor) Borenshield

Race: Dwarf (Deurgar)

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Class: Fighter/Rogue

Family Rank: Adopted into the family as a young outcast from his gray-dwarven clan. Has found his place as a successful fighter, and while he doesn’t celebrate a high rank, he associates well with Emmet’s forge and with Corubon’s contingent.

Appearance: Dark-skinned dwarf with white beard and deep eyes of shimmering obsidian. Four feet high, and about as wide as he is tall. Sports a breastplate and shield, and usually favors a shortsword.

Background: Borwald (Bor to friends) is a gray-dwarven outcast who’s spent most of his long-lived winters fellowshipping with House Platin. He was ousted by the dwarves for having stood against their immoral ways, and was only spared a death sentence because some among his forefathers were of noble birth. Having long left gray-dwarven association behind, Bor was raised by Platin drow, and eventually found favor serving as a guard with the House Watch.

Have you played with me before? Not that I can recall.

What makes you want to play this game? The Underdark seems fascinating, as does playing at level 10.

Do you really think you'll stick with this for at least a year? How about 5? As long as the game remains fun and engaging, I’m in.

Posting on Tues & Thurs.: No issues. I’d prefer posting more frequently, but twice weekly is fine.

Cheers. :)