I had sort of a crazy idea, so thought I'd try it out as an experiment. Basically, what I'm looking to do is to recapture some of the classic DnD Adventuring Party experience as well as give a few players the chance to play some of the more exotic underdark races. What I'm proposing then is a classic DnD adventuring group (such as are the focus of many a PnP game) that is composed entirely of Underdark-native/exotic/app-only races.
So if you're looking for a new character, feel free to brain-storm a concept for a non-standard race with their own unique personality, set of talents, weaknesses, quirky characteristics (all the things that make up a good character) and send a brief forum PM to me describing the PC.
Races to consider: Deep Imaskari Drow Svirfneblin Goblin Kobold Mountain Orc Orog Minotaur Troglodyte Gnoll There are other possibilities if you have a great idea No illithid though, please!
The characters will generally be evil, but if you have a good idea for a non-evil PC that's part of the group for whatever reason, that might be okay.
A few notes -
Expect a very early possible perma-death. PvP deaths should pretty much be considered permanent, barring my OK. From the start, it is -absolutely- legitimate for other PCs to kill yours if it is IC for them to do so (and being a hideous monster, or allied with hideous monsters, is a good IC reason for some characters).
Don't expect a whole lot of special DM attention. I'm not really running a specific plot for this group, it's more just an opportunity to bring a bunch of monsters together into a single party and see what happens. There will be high expectations from you guys for being awesome, though.
I imagine this will be popular, so please only send an idea if you're stuck for a character idea and have a very solid idea. Oh, and you should be able to play regularly during EST/US evening time zones.
In terms of how the group forms, that's still a bit up in the air. The key thing is that it's an underdark based adventuring group that's made up of the quirky exiles from various UD settlements. Like classic A-Team, or any of the cheesy fantasy story-lines out there, only together do they really come into their own! I encourage you to build at least one major weakness into the character's concept, since I'm interested in deeply flawed PCs that struggle to survive and do so through cooperation.
If you have a PC concept for this group, PM a brief paragraph describing the PC to me. If I like the idea, and if there's still room, I'll respond with questions I may have, and then invite you to send a regular application to the DM team (assuming the subrace requires an app, which most of those listed above do). If you don't get a response, then assume that there's no room or I don't feel like the concept works for the group.
You can also talk to me on IRC about this, on those few occasions when I'm around! Don't be offended if I don't respond though, as I'm only around on IRC a few hours a day despite leaving it up all the time.