Knights of the Bane
It's been 10 years since Prchadzk's War. The black dragon laid waste to Thoria and western Arkasia before a mysterious kobold wizard flew into the sky on newly-grown wings and unleashed a torrent of demonic energy, severing the powerful dragon's head. The kobold then stole the head away and disappeared once more.
Since then, the world has been troubled by rumbly-tumblies. Sages and scholars, who make a habit of calculating when disasters are going to happen, are baffled by what appears to be an unscheduled disaster.
The tarrasque, an excessively enormous monster who was last defeated about 2,000 years ago when great heroes knocked him out and dumped him in the ocean, appears to be stirring in his sleep. Something is waking him up.
All indicators point to an evil force on the Bane being responsible. However, since it is already taking tremendous effort to keep the fortress at Felfen from being destroyed by the wild creatures of the Bane, it is up to the world's greatest heroes.
That's you!
Whether you gained fame in the war against Prchadzk's dragonborn army or other conflicts in the world, you are now widely recognized (and rightly so) as one of the strongest and most cunning warriors in the world. You could easily defeat any given opponent in the East in single combat. The Western continent, however, is another story entirely.
Chargen
You're 11th level. You start with 32,000 gold to spend.
Your HP starts at:
Fighter, Paladin: 75 + Con score
Wizard: 50 + Con score
Other core classes: 62 + Con score
Encounter powers: Your first Paragon power, 7th level power, 3rd level power, and 1st level power
Daily powers: 9th level, 5th level, 1st level
Utility powers: Paragon utility power, 10th level power, 6th level power, and 2nd level power
Feats: base start is 7 feats.
Stats: +1 to all stats, then +1 to two stats, then +1 to two stats again
You'll have to work out racials and etc on your own. Talk to me if you want to do something weird, like a monster. A doppleganger would be cool.
Game Philosophy
I like NPC interaction and moral decisions more than I like combat. However, I appreciate that combat is an important part of the game.
I'm going to write all my own monsters for this game, drawing only tangential inspiration from the MM. Generally speaking, they'll follow a pattern: boss monsters aside, they'll have low HP, high damage, and only one or two abilities to keep track of. I want combat to be fast, intense, and over quickly, one way or the other.
If you make a dumb decision, I'm not going to fudge the game to save your PC. If you attempt to ride a sea turtle, you will drown when it dives.
Your objective is making your way through a world which nobody knows anything about, gaining the trust of powerful beings who'd normally love to kill you, and eventually figuring out who or what is attempting to awaken the tarrasque.
However, being on a quest to save the world and all, you have the resources of the Eastern nations at your disposal. They'll be sending along some pals to hang out at Felfen; mages, translators, craftsmen, and other useful noncombat personnel. This way, you can treat Felfen as you would any medium-sized city. You'll be able to Scroll of Town Portal back from wherever you are in the Bane; you'll just have to be sure that no satanic murdermachines follow you through.
Anyway. I try to keep things light and easy, I'm likely to toss out bits of the rules that aren't any fun... basically, I don't take power away from the players in order to make things challenging. However, there are plenty of dangerous things out there and they should be suitably terrifying; a game where you're not scared of getting your ass handed to you is no fun at all.
Schedule
Best night for me is Wednesday. Other good nights include Friday or Saturday. Any other night will also work, though, so it is up to you guys. Preferred start time is 7 or 8 PM and then running for five hours, with a short break somewhere.
Will be running most of the time in IRC, switching to GameTable if necessary for a combat (but not all combats will necessitate GT).
By the way, I hate when people tab out in the middle of games and spend half their time in a browser window. If you absolutely have to divide your attention, set up your IRC client to flash or something when your name or your character's name are spoken so that you know to come back and play the game.
Looking for four players. Five is acceptable.
SailorPsychick, Bal, Doom, and Romosome have expressed interest, but they should post here anyway if they want in.