Dungeons & Dragons 5e | D&D5e: Mini-Dungeon Campaign - Let's Worldbuild!

About the adventure

Game Description: Using the Mini-Dungeon Tome by AAW Games as a bare-bones skeleton, I'm building a world for you, my players, to enjoy - but I need your help! It's more fun to do this as a collaborative exercise, so as we create characters and play I'll be asking you for details about the world - anything from "where was your character born?" to "what does this inscription say?" to "what was the name of your mother's cousin's crazy spouse, again? The one who was trying to summon that demonlord? And remind me of the demonlord's name?" This is your world as much as it is mine, so I want you to help me fill in the details. Most of the time will likely be spent in dungeon-crawls, which are mostly hack-n-slash, kick-in-the-door-kill-the-monsters-take-their-loot adventures, but if a group wants to roleplay I'm happy to do that as well. Improv is always fun.

Additional Details

How to prepare

You will need the Fantasy Grounds Unity software, which is a free download available at https://www.fantasygrounds.com/home/FantasyGroundsUnity.php. You don't need to buy anything - I have the Ultimate license, which means my players only need the free Demo. Make sure you've installed and updated at least the day before your session. You will also need Discord, available at https://discord.com/download. It's possible to use the browser-based interface, but using the Desktop client is recommended. You can also use the mobile app if you prefer, but I do require the use of Push-To-Talk, which doesn't work as well on mobile devices (trust me, I've tried it and it's problematic). As we will be utilizing voice chat, you'll need some kind of microphone and either headphones or speakers (whatever is built-in on your device may be sufficient - it's what I started with). Video is optional - while it can help with non-verbal cues, I personally won't be using a camera and don't expect my players to. But you're more than welcome to share your video feed if you like. Make sure you have a dedicated, distraction-free space set aside for game sessions. Excessive background noise (and motion, if you're sharing video) is distracting, and constant interruptions by others at your end is, frankly, rude. I understand that you may have pets or family (particularly young children) who may need attention during a game session and occasionally, that’s fine, but we cannot have you constantly interrupted or distracted while we play or I may need to ask you to leave so the others can productively continue.

What I provide

I have an Ultimate license for Fantasy Grounds Unity (so you don't need to buy anything), the core D&D5e books, and most of the WotC supplements in FG format. I'm happy to teach new players and new-to-FG players.

Gameplay details

Gameplay: These are one-shots (which often end up running two or more sessions), so if they feel a little railroady, they are - that's the nature of one-shots. If the group would like a different hook than the one I've offered, let me know what kind of hook you'd prefer and I'll see what I have in my collection that might fit. This will largely be a dungeon-crawl by design, although there will be opportunities to interact with party members and NPCs. I enjoy watching the party interact, and am happy to play NPCs if the group decides they want to focus on roleplay. Content Warnings: Beyond the expected "fantasy violence" warning, I prefer to run a clean, family-friendly game (think PG-13-ish), but this doesn't mean I need you to clean up your language. It does mean that topics like torture and sexual violence are out of bounds, and that I won't be getting too graphic with descriptions of combat gore. Some of the modules I run may touch on slavery (as in, there may be one or more NPCs described as "slavers" that the PCs will be asked to interact with), but it's not a topic I intend to bring up often. Safety Tools: I will be using the X-Card style of safety tool so players can anonymously let the group know when things get uncomfortable or go past a boundary. This is good for in-game/in-character things as well as out-of-character stuff - sometimes it's not what's happening in the fiction that's the problem, but how the other players are behaving (been there, had that uncomfortable conversation). This means that when someone displays a card, especially the "Stop" card, everyone at the table needs to take a moment and think about what was going on that could have triggered the card. I will give an opportunity for the person who used the card to speak up if they want, but you're by no means required to say anything. No explanation is ever required. In addition, if you’d like safety tools or limits to be discussed up front, let me know either with a private message or just mention it in the group. I’ll stop and have everyone listen. Bottom line is that respectful behavior is required at all times. Disrespectful, hateful, hurtful language or behavior will not be tolerated and will be grounds for immediate removal.

Content warnings

(none)

Safety tools used

(none)

How will character creation work

I set aside time at the beginning of each session for new players to create characters, and for returning players to create new characters (if they want). You should, at a minimum, have some idea of what kind of character you want to play, no matter how vague that idea is. Between Fantasy Grounds's specific requirements on what order to do things and new players' lack of familiarity with the D&D5e rules I'm using, I don't expect people to have a pre-built character ready to go at game time. I'll walk you through the process and be on hand to answer questions. For those who know what they're doing and want to make their character ahead of time, you're welcome to do so as long as you follow my house rules and permitted sources. Any character you bring from outside is subject to my approval, and you may be asked to adjust or rebuild your character if I find it doesn't follow my rules. Please message me for the rules if you'd like to build your character before the game.

Players can expect

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