On the Dotted Line - Dark, Gritty, Exciting, Nine Hells Sandbox

Creating your character

Character creation will begin with one on one communication between each player and the DM. We will go over general ideas for a lvl 1 character that you would like to bring to the table. Backstory is not a huge part of this game as the players begin the campaign as a previous mortal who has landed down in the hells after death. Players should come to this one on one brainstorming period with a general idea for a race, class and type of person they would like to play. Each player character will retain generally who they were in life, the types of aspirations and motivations they had. Additionally, players should also create one significant NPC from their backstory that they either betrayed or were betrayed by. Players are welcome to come up with further backstory elements for themselves to know if it helps them roleplay their PC better and informs their play at the table. Prior to session 0 we will be also establishing together a niche, ability or boon of sorts that sets each PC above other souls, something that is unique to the character and make’s their soul “exceptional”. Along with safety tools, at Session 0 we will go over the party dynamic, boundaries and expectations, and collaboratively make tweaks to PCs as needed and/or desired. At Session 1, (potentially Session 0) players will receive a Lemure stat block as their starting character sheet and will play through the first prologue as said lemure before signing a contract to receive their lvl 1 adventuring body. Additional power, abilities, resources are able to be bargained for through the contract signing process. The process of discovering and choosing a contract and bargaining over the details will span the first couple sessions of gameplay and the choices made by the party during will influence the course of the early chapters of the campaign. If you would like any further information about character creation and progression in this campaign, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. Please note: I do not use D&D beyond for character creation as I feel it can be restrictive and prevent some players from getting creative with their character. I encourage you to use D&D beyond to create your own character sheet if you want to though!

Preparing for the session

Things you will need: - Discord account - Roll20 account - webcam (or similar video device) - microphone (built in is totally fine as long as you have tested it) - basic character information as stated above (name, idea of class and identity) -internet with the capabilities that can accommodate several hour long sessions - experience with D&D or a complete willingness to dive into the deep end (we will be largely a “rule of cool” table so extensive knowledge of the rules is not necessary. However please read up on your chosen class and general game rules to make the most of your time.) - If you are a new player to D&D, please reach out to me ASAP after booking so we can get you ready and settled to dive into this campaign - ability to commit to a long form campaign (and the flexibility to adjust when needed - your real lives are important to me as well!) - a sense of humor and compassion as well as a willingness to get down with the intense darkness of The Hells - additional materials may be required depending on the table and the progression of the campaign

What GoPorridgeGaming brings to the table

I am a generally rules-light GM and am in favor of working with my players to make cool moments happen for them. I like rewarding my players for creative thinking and pushing themselves out of their comfort zone as a player (as long as it is in a safe and enjoyable way for them and does not chronically take the spotlight from other players). I run dangerous combat that does not feel punishing and let my players run wild with what they can do. I am a huge fan of crafting and designing props and will be physically sending out certain important props in the mail to my players. In person I create full terrain and virtually will be using a combination of custom designed battle maps and tokens and premade ones. I also make visual aid compilations for my players in the form of “moodboards” and albums. I will be setting up a discord specifically for this game with channels to help organize all the campaign information for the table. Audio is very important for me to create a fully immersive experience at the table, from ambient sounds to carefully chosen music to enhance each situation the party gets into. I use a large amount of custom content from other wonderful creators as well as from published resources so if you as a player have found items or other elements of the game you might like to see come up at the table, you are encouraged to send it over to me and we can have a conversation about implementing it in our game.

How GoPorridgeGaming creates a safe table

Especially as this is a game with a particularly dark setting, I want to make sure my players are getting the most from the experience without feeling uncomfortable by the things that might come up in the Hells. I put out a survey and consent checklist that helps establish the expectations for the group prior to Session 0 and encourage players to reach out to me for a brief chat about any discomfort or hard limits they think they could have during this game. During Session 0, I facilitate a group discussion about expectations, boundaries and safety tools, and explain how lines and veils works, my open door policy and what specific boundaries we want to set as a group both in and out of game. TTRPG safety and comfort are incredibly important to me as a DM and I know we will be stepping into quite uncomfortable places together in this game. Violence, torture, gruesome scenes, abhorrent morality, sexual themes, dark humor, and just generally sick/twisted gross behaviour are all very likely to come up as this game is set in the Nine Hells, HOWEVER, I want to be extremely careful to navigate these hard subjects consensually as a table and have safe fun with all of it. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to reach out.