Trying to find a Roll20 DnD group

[MegaRhettButler]

So the only time I actually played actual DnD was probably 12 years ago. The party ended up attacking my evil cleric and when he survived that the DM killed him. He had cast crypt spawn before he died, but the DM refused to look up the stats for a crypt fiend and just told me he would kill that too anyway. I was told to play a chaotic good barbarian the DM had prepared or leave the group. I left the group. Really, I think those guys were assholes who took it way too seriously. Sure he was a bit of a murderhobo, but nothing too extreme. Never wanted to play since.

But I've had an idea for a character I want to play, and I've been posting it to numerous recruitment threads on Roll20 hoping a DM will be interested. No dice. What annoys me is many of the players who are chosen ahead of me have (to my mind) really gay sounding characters and I think my dude would be awesome.

Is anyone here a DM interested in running a Roll20 game for members of this forum? I'd love to play in it. I've purchased the 5e player's handbook through Roll20 and can buy any other rulebooks I need to participate. I would buy a campaign book for the GM to run but there's no guarantee they won't just accept it then tell me to fuck myself so maybe you could run something you already have? I'm sure a lot of you have tons of old campaign modules lying around that you've run before.

Anyway here's the backstory for the dude I'm trying to play as. I really don't think he's unreasonable at all. He's just a fighter. No idea why I'm not getting picked. He seems like he could fit in fine with any good or neutral aligned party and I'm literally telling potential DM's that I'm up for anything as long as I get some RP opportunities and unspecified character development. I even removed the spousal abuse from his backstory in case it was triggering the snowflakes or something.

Name: Moric

Age: 43

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Class: Fighter

Alignment: Can be Lawful Good (strongly preferred), neutral good or true neutral depending on what fits in best with the group. Don't want to play him as evil or chaotic.

Backstory:

He's a peasant farmer, 43 years old. He's clean shaven, fair skinned, green eyes and with graying black hair styled in an unfashionable peasant's bowl cut. He wears simple, grey woolen clothing, clean but patched in many places, and his feet are wrapped tidily in cloth as he can't afford boots. He's thin and looks like he doesn't eat enough, but he's wiry and strong from a life of hard work. He's not a filthy peasant, just a poor one.

He's a Godly man who worships whatever agricultural God it would make sense for a peasant in the campaign setting to worship, and he's sworn an oath not to drink out of love for his late wife Heather, who he used to beat when he drank too much. Heather died giving birth to his third child (the child died too). His daughter Grace (first child) was married off at a young age to the miller's son Bruce (who became the miller when his da passed) and he has infant grandchildren.

Him and his surviving son Gower were conscripted into his lord's (or lady's, DM's choice) army to fight a battle he didn't know much about. He didn't have any choice in the matter. He didn't have weapons beyond a simple dagger that belonged to his da, so he took this and his hatchet (1h axe) that he uses to chop wood and went off to war. Gower, a scoundrel and poacher of his lord's game (despite Moric scolding and beating him whenever he was caught), took a bow.

Moric was given a shield and put in the front line as fodder for the enemy's charge. He fought bravely and held the line longer than most (fighting was surprisingly natural to him), but the enemy turned out to be overwhelming (a big hord of orcs or whatever fits with the campaign setting) and his army was scattered and driven from the land. Everyone who didn't manage flee died, and most who did flee were run down and killed. His son was elsewhere on the field and he doesn't know where he is or if he got out alive (I was thinking he could be a good replacement character if Moric gets killed). His son in law, Bruce the miller, was also conscripted. Moric doesn't know if he survived either. Not many did. He's not even sure if he actually managed to kill anyone in the battle, but he's sure he at least wounded a few.

He doesn't know if his village is still there, if his daughter is a widow, a slave, or dead. His parents are long gone (the pox took them and his sister) and his brother Murdo was too old to be conscripted. His uncles, cousins and nephews of fighting age are probably dead. He cannot return to his homeland on pain of death, and he needs an income soon before the few oats he has to eat run out...

His homeland borders the campaign setting or is in it, whatever fits. He fled the battle when the lines broke and traveled on foot to wherever he meets the party. He still has his axe (which now has a chipped edge) and his father's plain peasants' dagger. He dropped his shield when he fled. He's got about two more days worth of oats to eat in a bag which he has wrapped in a frayed wool sash around his waist (of the same weave as his clothing), and a few copper pieces hidden in the bottom of the bag, beneath the oats. If epic gear is needed to start the adventure he'll have to be paid a retainer, otherwise he'll just scavenge what he can find.

The battle can be a war between nations or a local skirmish that nobody outside his area would have heard of, depending on the setting. The identity of his lord is DM's discretion. It doesn't really matter. He's just a peasant. All he knows about his lord is his name. All he knows about his enemy is he was told to fight them.

He isn't secretly epic, just a sturdy peasant with a newly discovered natural talent for fighting with his axe. No matter what his INT ends up being he never learned to read (though if he ends up smart enough, he may seek to learn). He's never ridden a horse before, but if he has the natural aptitude, he could learn. Any knowledge he has comes from stories, songs and gossip. He knows how to grow crops, make bread, thatch his roof etc. He's no craftsman, but he's handy. Anything you could expect a peasant to know, he knows. And by God can he fight. He's not been trained insomuch as he's just tough and talented (so stats wise, he's a fighter). I'd really just like to see this simple peasant man to be changed in some major way by his adventures, without knowing as a player what that change will be

Yes I realize this is a pretty generic RPG protagonist backstory. I just think it would be fun to be an ignorant peasant in a party of epic adventurers, trying to fit in and grow to be one of them.

 

[sgm]

Did you tell those prospective groups on Roll20 about your old murderhobo? That the other players tried to kill him, failed, then the GM gave you an ultimatum? That would probably be the reason you weren't picked. You can see that it might set off a lot of redflags, and with the large amount of people wanting to play 5E, a GM might just go with what they thought was a safe bet for low player drama.

If you really want to play a 5E game, just post something on Roll20 that's simple and not a text dump; that you played 'x' version 12 years ago, want to start up again, and have the 5E books. That's it. Pretty simple. And go along with what the GM and group has designed for character creation.

Or look for a group playing another edition that closely resembles the kind of play your looking for.

 

[Mortmal]

You wont ever find any group for 5E here, especially not like that. Not only there's few DM , but most people of the codex are not reliable enough to organize anything. Even if you find some they may not play 5E, but rather pathfinder or any OSR clones. You better go to r/Lfg, mention your timezone and system, vocal/text . Good luck , there's 20 players for one DM ,most of them sucks and wont do one tenth of what i am doing in my campaign.
Also your background is really not appealing.

 

[MegaRhettButler]

Did you tell those prospective groups on Roll20 about your old murderhobo? That the other players tried to kill him, failed, then the GM gave you an ultimatum? That would probably be the reason you weren't picked. .

No I didn't mention that. I just expressed interest in joining posted games and posted the quoted character bio.

You wont ever find any group for 5E here,

It doesn't have to be 5e. I still have a 3.5 PHB, or I could acquire the PHB for whatever system they want to run.

Also your background is really not appealing.

What's wrong with Moric? He's a cool guy who just wants to earn some money to buy himself some more oats to eat.

 

[Mortmal]

What's wrong with Moric? He's a cool guy who just wants to earn some money to buy himself some more oats to eat.

Far too generic <insert campaign name> and bland , might do the job for r/Lfg and less picky people , just not for me.

 

[MegaRhettButler]

What's wrong with Moric? He's a cool guy who just wants to earn some money to buy himself some more oats to eat.

Far too generic <insert campaign name> and bland , might do the job for r/Lfg and less picky people , just not for me.

That's kind of the point, that he starts generic. It seems like every DnD character is a living legend before the campaign even starts. I like what many CRPGs do better, the character starts off a relatively blank slate and is shaped by his experiences and the choices he is forced to make. But seeing as you're speaking of your own personal preference I can't really argue with you.

 

[Spectacle]

Moric sounds like a pretty cool character concept to me, dunno why he's not getting picked. You could try fleshing him out, describe some more personalty quirks etc. not just his life story.

 

[sgm]

Frankly, I see no reason for a complex backstory. Just because a player, or a GM, can come up with something that may be unique and interesting doesn't mean they play well, or run a game competently. Also, a player has no idea what they will do with their character during sessions and may decide after a few games that they want the PC's personality to be different, or change their alignments. Why impose such a restriction when it has so little relevance to the actual game, especially if they're happier with something different and end up more invested? There are enough class/race/etc. restrictions in the rules. One imposed upon the PC by a backstory is just ridiculous. And let's be honest here, starting with 3E a lot of players' choices for backstory were attempts to game the system via Traits/Drawbacks. Such roleplaying!!!

My opinion has always been that the "backstory" should be what you told people your character did during previous game sessions. Not only does it rule out any weird conflicts between how the PC acts and some pre-play defined personality, but it's more naturally developed. After years of play, no one really talks about what their character was at creation, but what they did during adventures.

And as a GM that started over 30 years ago, I have enough to do running a game that I feel no desire to spend even more time trying to work in every PC's "background". Roleplaying is their only job and now I'm expected to handhold them doing that? No thanks.

 

[MegaRhettButler]

Moric sounds like a pretty cool character concept to me, dunno why he's not getting picked. You could try fleshing him out, describe some more personalty quirks etc. not just his life story.

Thanks! Ok I'll think a bit more about what kind of man he is, besides just a good chaste, dude who works the fields. I'm thinking that if he doesn't end up being a PC I may just write a short story about him and his adventures. I haven't done anything creative since my teenage years so maybe it could be fun.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I like moric

 

[Darth Roxor]

What's wrong with Moric?

his backstory is at least 8 paragraphs too long

He had cast crypt spawn before he died, but the DM refused to look up the stats for a crypt fiend and just told me he would kill that too anyway. I was told to play a chaotic good barbarian the DM had prepared or leave the group.

what the hell

 

[hello friend]

Moric sounds like a pretty cool character concept to me, dunno why he's not getting picked. You could try fleshing him out, describe some more personalty quirks etc. not just his life story.

Thanks! Ok I'll think a bit more about what kind of man he is, besides just a good chaste, dude who works the fields. I'm thinking that if he doesn't end up being a PC I may just write a short story about him and his adventures. I haven't done anything creative since my teenage years so maybe it could be fun.

I think this is exactly the wrong way to go. Just say you want to play as a peasant, and keep all your backstory in the back of your mind instead. No one's really interested in a long monologue about a character's long and detailed struggles and dreams. Let it surface gradually through how you react to situations, or if asked. Like sgm says, characters become themselves during the course of play, more than a skin and bones concept is superfluous.

Although for sure, writing short stories can be fun and a good creative exercise. Just don't bring it to the playing table. Also it sounds like your first group was absolutely terrible, without being there it's impossible to say if you weren't just being annoying, but it sounds like a bad group. Best of luck in finding a better one.

 

[Catacombs]

You wont ever find any group for 5E here

Too much autism to get a consistent and fun game going.

 

[Lithium Flower]

What hello friend said. As a GM who usually draws from cesspool that is Roll20, the real red flag in your post is the fact that you have an entire backstory prepared before even knowing the specifics of the particular setting/campaign you are going to be joining.

If you have a general concept in mind, great, but keep details brief and vague and be prepared to make adjustments to make it mesh well with what the GM and other players have in mind. The fact that you have this apparently set stone signals to the GM that you are putting your l33t character concept before the campaign concept, whether you are actually intent on doing that or not. (Yes, I know you have multiple concessions to the GM's discretion here, but this is less about substance and more about appearances - I would simply be wary of anyone who goes from thread to thread regurgitating a multi-paragraph character concept he would like to play as, regardless of how insistent they are that they can tweak a detail here or there to the GM's liking).

Your shenanigans with the past party should probably not be mentioned either, although - if we go by what you tell us - it seems like you were in the right there. Still, searching for 5e players as a GM on Roll20 is a bit like using Tinder as a girl - they get such an overload of potential applicants that one red flag will often be too many. Be friendly, don't come off as a wierdo, maybe (briefly and broadly!) the kind of character you are interested in playing and list a few examples of your favorite fantasy media or whatever. Do that and you should find a game in no time.

 

[sgm]

For what it's worth OP, there is a Codex PnP group that is accepting new players. It's a DCC-based game called Cradle Valley run by our very own Irenaeus. As he no longer posts here, he's allowed us players to invite people. Check out the thread and if it interests you, send me a message and I'll answer any more questions you have. Then, if you want to play, I'll send you an invite link to the Discord. This is open to everyone BTW. Except bronies.

 

[Mortmal]

Worth mentioning again, fantasy grounds is TON better than roll 20. I can recommend irenaeus as DM, he's excellent at narrative, it's a good idea to steal a few things from him. However he's crippled by poor tools , basic roll20+ discord is inefficient for strategic combat. I am not kidding there i am doing combat 50x faster using fantasy grounds and making my customs maps , it especially shines with the use of effects ,scripts,tables, auto hit calculations, the combat tracker is a wonder that with every editions from 2e to 5E . Only problem is everyone need a basic license or the Dm an ultimate license . But it's not such a bad thing , people who buy this are usually more commited.
Far too many applicants are unreliable slackers , the worse are zoomers who think hundred of hours of preparation is something considered as granted .After few years of DMing you are becoming a lot more elitist and strict.Makes senses , after all you are still a neckbeard, but there as someone else said, you are the pretty girl on tinder, so many applicants , so few you will pick.

 

[MegaRhettButler]

Worth mentioning again, fantasy grounds is TON better than roll 20.

I'll look into it. Thanks.

I can recommend irenaeus as DM, he's excellent at narrative,

They seem like a good bunch of guys. sgm was very accommodating and really went out of his way to welcome me into the group. Unfortunately a timezone difference prevented me from joining, but they seem like a much nicer group of people than I expected to meet.

What hello friend said. As a GM who usually draws from cesspool that is Roll20, the real red flag in your post is the fact that you have an entire backstory prepared before even knowing the specifics of the particular setting/campaign you are going to be joining.

I'll take that under advisement. I thought DMs would appreciate a player that put in the extra work so that's why I put so much detail in my character bio. I'll keep it short next time and see how I go.

Your shenanigans with the past party should probably not be mentioned either, although - if we go by what you tell us - it seems like you were in the right there.

Yeah I'll keep that stuff to myself. Looking back though, I'm the one who is wrong to call them assholes. They weren't all assholes, it was just a mismatch of expectations. At that point in my life I just wanted to get stoned and have fun with the game and I didn't understand how deeply seriously some people take it. A couple of guys in the group hated me (the paladin and the GM) and others liked me (the ones who had a sense of humor). Some of them were really cool, like this Egyptian Muslim guy who I stayed friends with for ages after and who would laugh his ass off remembering my "evil priest" as he called him. I still grin when I think about how funny he found that concept.

I was pretty mad about my character dying (though in my head canon he lives on as a crypt fiend) but not mad enough to not talk to them anymore. We did play a few one shots together in other systems after that (Call of Cthulu and GURPS IIRC) so they can't have been that bad.

Still, searching for 5e players as a GM on Roll20 is a bit like using Tinder as a girl - they get such an overload of potential applicants that one red flag will often be too many. Be friendly, don't come off as a wierdo, maybe (briefly and broadly!) the kind of character you are interested in playing and list a few examples of your favorite fantasy media or whatever. Do that and you should find a game in no time.

When you put it like that it explains a lot. That sounds like solid advice. Thanks!