PLEASE NOTE: At this time, the game is full - but I am happy to put you on a waiting list if there should be an opening.

Behold, O noble souls, the saga of Dragon Hold: Council of Dragons, where the very fabric of existence quivers beneath the majestic wings of six timeless behemoths! Here, within the hallowed ruins of Dragon Hold you rule under a mountain.

Dragon Hold is an Ancient City of Fallen Titans, the echoes of an age-old conflict still resound. Once, the Titans strode as divine demi-gods, commanding dragons, demons, and elementals with the authority of gods. Yet, their pride led them into a war of cosmic magnitude, and their legacy crumbled into dust.

But lo, the Dragons endure, bound by the ancient curse to stand as eternal sentinels over Dragon Hold, where titanic marvels once towered over the land. As an Elder Dragon, you wield dominion over Dragonkin priests and three tribes of Goblins, your word a thunderous decree that shapes the very destiny of this realm.

In Dragon Hold, the Chronicles of the Elder Dragons unfold through the system, a realm where statistics pale before the radiant brilliance of narrative prowess. Here, amidst the swirling currents of fate, players immerse themselves in the grandeur of strategic deliberation and the artistry of immersive roleplay.

(In other words: We focus less on statistics and dice rolls, and more on roleplay. I "black box" the system so that players focus on capabilities and outcomes without tracking details and accounting.

This game is light on tactical combat, and puzzles and offers no direct dungeon exploration. Instead, you send forth your champions and minions to do your bidding. The players share a domain and decide collaboratively much like an adventuring party would on the future of their kingdom.

Embrace your destiny as an Elder Dragon, and etch your legend upon the annals of Dragon Hold...


===

Why?

I've played so many "I was paid by a guy in a tavern, to die in a dungeon" games that I wanted to play a reverse dungeon where players take the role of the powerful rulers of said dungeon - dealing with pesky adventurers come to steal their treasures, or internal conflicts between their own minions, setting their own agendas for the future as they send forth champions to explore and adventure.

However, I couldn't find anyone who was running a game like that.

I created this one.

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Freeform?


There are freeform RP threads for general roleplay, and then we approximate table top during "Events" where it matters.

In Freeform, players often go round robin and complete a type of ongoing fiction story. In the event threads, players will get an opportunity to discuss and decide their actions collectively and the (GM will roll dice behind the scenes if necessary) and move the action along by processing everyone's actions together. This allows players who do not post frequently to still participate.

In Freeform, let's say you meet a Chaos Lord and the first player to respond chooses to eat said Chaos Lord before he gets a chance to say why he visited. They may even determine that they digested the creature without giving other players a chance to intervene.

In Event Threads, the players will have an opportunity to consider the relative merits of eating their visitor together, and should someone choose to do so anyway, I'll give the other players the opportunity to intervene before it happens.

===

What system are we using?


I've read hundreds of systems in my life. I've determined that using "NO" system is better for this kind of campaign. I am simply going to tell you about the hundreds of goblins living in three clans within your domain and their relative strengths and weakenesses rather than give them a collection of stats.

I am also not going to tell you how many arrows or casks of wine you have in your treasury. I am simply going to give you an idea of how well stocked you are and we'll RP that.

I have discovered not only is it intimidating to learn a new system, but also that one reason epic games like this fail is that they begin to become weighted down as the players expand their domain. I want you to feel like Elder Dragons - not accountants tracking arrows and silver pieces. You have a HOARD of wealth - it would take a lifetime to count it all and by the time you did, some of it would be stolen, spent or added to and you'd have to start all over again.


It's about capabilities and outcomes - with a focus on role playing over roll playing - so while there are dice- you simply say what you want to do/have done and you will know what your character knows about your chance of success. There is no point in creating elaborate charts to rank stats from and then translate a "12 out of 20" back into real world equivalent for this game. Instead, we will just deal with the real world equivalent.


I will use fair dice rolls behind the scene, but I am more interested in role play over roll play.

===

How many open positions are there:

Six

I'll post the RTJ, and other notices that help round out the game's history, maps, NPCs and players. Feel free to read the other threads at your leisure. I want a relaxed game that is not going to stress anyone out.

Note: Once the game starts, I may ask new players to take an existing role/take over where someone left off, but I'll allow you to put your own spin on the character. If not, I'll make a concession and have the next oldest dragon step into the council.

===

Is there PVP or Solo Play?


While I will not stop you from fighting fellow players or foiling their ideas, understand that everyone comes to the game for a good time. If you are spoiling their fun and trying to be disruptive that isn't "fun" or cool. I will give you enough adversaries both internally and externally that you should (hopefully) See your fellow players as allies.

I do not intend to create solo games for six players to exist in the same campaign world. I intend to create one setting and have six players react to situations together collaboratively.



What are my clases/powers

You were educated by the Titans in ancient lore and speak many languages, and have keen intellects, but you have no particular skills such as artificing or dragon forging. you cannot polymorph, and you cannot use spells. You are cursed to remain in the mountain and often perch upon the grand buildings inside the ancient city.  The cavern is big enough for you to fly around, but as an Elder Dragon, you rarely need to move - food is brought to you by your minions.

Players start with approximately 30 dragonkin that serve you including one personal champion (that you will choose or inherit as part of the game) and a vast shared hoard of wealth.

There are approximately 35 other dragons and colors of various ages within the city.

This is not a statistical game where we need to track statistics, but you have the power to rend apart entire cities or armies should you ever have the opportunity and inclination - even with out your devastating breath weapon - you are a formidable dragon that few would ever dare challenge.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:47, Wed 13 Mar.

NAME:

Great examples are Phadaron, Vugnas, Xanarus.

You only need a first name. We will also add a prefix (See below) to your name based on your coloration.

Please no anachronistic names like Falcor or Parthanaax


GENDER:
(any is fine)

DRAGON TYPE:

1. Gold
2. Copper
3. Ruby (Red)
4. Obsidian (Black)
5. Saphire (Blue)
6. Emerald (Green)


Each type will have a distinct coloration, and breath weapon.

In addition, when referring to a dragon of a specific type, elder dragons such as you are often given a prefix by other dragons.

au' for Gold
cu' Copper
op' for Red
dr' for Black
ve' for Green
az'  for Blue


There is no animosity between you and your fellow dragons of different colors, and you are not bound by a particular "alignment" in this game - while you should have a consistent idea of what kind of ruler you are - you are by no means bound to any particular set of behaviors any more than a human in modern times would be.


You are an Elder Dragon, great and imposing. Hatchlings are only about a yard in length, but one such as your size is approximately 100 feet in length (or 30 meters) including tail. You've great talons and vicious rows of teeth, as well as heavily armored scales.


ORIGIN STORY:

Over eight hundred years ago, the Titans used Dragon Magic to bind you to this place. You were a youngling. They killed your parents and took you as an egg or small dragon to the city to train you. They bound you in mithril and taught you the languages of the titans. They enchanted you and made you bound to an underground city - which was one of many bastions of the Titans. Here you were intended to be guardians, servants and eventually mounts to the giant creatures that ruled this city.

They died out in a war, never to return. You and your kind have remained in this crumbling ruins of a once wonderous city for over eight hundred years.

As the eldest of the dragons, you and your companions have had a long time to rule over the nothingness of the dark void with Dragonkin servants created by the Titans themselves to tend to your needs. There is a cavern of spiders - most of whom who have only animal intelligence that serves as your primary food source. A few hundred years ago, tribes of goblins moved into the city and you allowed it. In exchange for their service, you offer your protections. They have consolidated into there clans.

Tell me in two to three paragraphs a description of your personality that other players would know.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:01, Mon 11 Mar.

Game Play Flow:

The posting rate is intended to be medium, although I certainly won't discourage you if you want to go faster.

There may be days when I am unable to respond, but I plan to check daily whenever possible.

There are two possible flows:

Freeform: On threads indicated as Freeform, this is continuous RP and not intended to have GM moderation. It's intended to be a fun opportunity to discuss schemes, get to know one another. It gets rather boring in a cavern for centuries if you do not have fun every once in a while, so feel free to model distractions and entertainment you may have if appropriate to the conversation.


Most players are familiar with Freeform RP, so I won't go into any detail about "god-moding" or do's and don'ts. If you read the Free form thread, it should become very obvious that it's often conversational in nature, and that actions are written in third person - although I won't be picky if you prefer to think of your character in first person. If you do struggle with how to freeform, let me know in private mail.

Chapters:

The timescale in this game is a "Chapter" - a chapter could be a day, or a month or a year. Just like in a book, a Chapter covers a series of discreet events that make up part of a story. I'll begin the chapter with a report from your Herald.

This report will be sort of a summary of what the state of things are, and any pressing business at hand. You can respond directly in that thread.

Typically, I'd be looking for questions for the Herald, and Decrees and Orders - to keep things simple and organized, I'd ask that you bold when you want to do one or the other.

A Decree is something you want the players to vote upon as a group. As an example:

Decree
 I propose we slay the Necromancer, and divvy up his things.

Or it could be a choice:
Shall we slay the Necromancer, and divvy up his things OR try to recruit him as an underling?

These are decisions the group needs to make. I would ask that you limit yourself to one or two decrees per chapter, but sometimes you will need more. I'll create a separate thread to discuss it/potentially in the next chapter depending on where are and take a vote.


Orders

As opposed to a player action, an Order is simply something you want to decide on your own with your stuff, as an example "Have Ravelax repair the Great Archive. He can use 10,000 gold of my hoard." it can be as detailed or as simple as you want. "Send Ravelax adventuring".

By default, if you do not tell your minions or henchmen to do anything, they'll do what they feel is the best choice - as an example, if you have a Henchman who by nature likes to go adventuring, they may do that anyway on their own.

It is rare, but some of your henchmen, especially new ones may choose to disobey your orders and do things differently.

Keep everything simple and in plain language - I do not want to create a system of turn orders. I am just asking you to call out really clearly that you've given an order in case I miss it buried in the text.

Typically, this is not for anything trivial - "Escort the prisoner to the dungeon" can just be said casually in the course of the adventure. This is more broad instruction typically for named NPCs where you delegate some task to them that will take up most or all of the chapter.


In the Chapter, I may create events where an Adventuring Party finds it way into your lair, or some other event happens. I'll title the post "Chapter X:" and the name of the event. I will probably only have a few events every chapter, but sometimes they will both be open at the same time. The assumption is they are happening "Around the same time".

My intention is before moving on to the next chapter, we've concluded all events.


When the chapter is over, I'll post a summary in "The Chronicle" notice for future players reference, and then repeat the process by moving things ahead to the next chapter. As a matter of good form, I'll close the old chapter/events.

We can always revisit those events and their consequences in future chapters.

as you play the game, you will see that my intent is two fold.

1. Offer some rudimentary sense of "Where are we right now" in the game without boxing you into a specific day and week where we can literally only talk about one thing.

I may have two events happening simultaneously in the forum, but technically they are happening at relatively different times within the same chapter. That takes a little creative poetic license to deal with the idea that not everything is serial. This is just so we can move the game along faster. If I truly feel there is something pivotal happening, I probably won't have any other events taking place at the same time.

2 Approximate and adapt table-top roleplaying to play by forum. It's difficult because when face to face or in real time, you can be much more linear and players have immediate reactions to what's going on. I want to be fair to people who can't post frequently and give you the opportunity to say what you would do in a given situation before moving things along.

So in each event, I may break it out into sections (think of it like turns), where after I set up the event I give you a chance to post your initial reaction and moves, and then I will summarize/roll dice if necessary and move things along and give you a chance to respond.


3. More Immersive experience - When roleplaying in person, it's important to get into character and feel like you are this person and not an author writing about what they would do or have done. Personally, I like writing my actions like "I swing at the Orc" which is first person, present tense.

If you visit a counselor and they ask you to roleplay as your spouse or Dad, they don't expect you to say "Evelyn offered a wintry smile, and stepped lightly in her stiletto shoes"

They expect you to talk as if you are her and say "Jack, stop looking at my high heels and talk to me."

I won't stop you from using third person in the chapter events at all, but I am just telling you where I am coming from as an old school gamer who was used to saying "I check for secret traps" instead of "Kash diligently searched every mechanism with agile fingers and upon finding a trap, cleverly disarmed the mechanism before opening it.."