Oh No He's Hot: Curse of Strahd, lvl 3+, 🌈, dark gothic horror

Creating your character

Player Characters will start at level 3 for this game and I highly encourage players to create their characters with roleplay in mind. This game will have some intense combat and exploration but I want you to come to the game with a character that you will have the most fun playing out at the table, a character you would want to fully embody to explore a gothic vampire story with. Please have an idea of a class, race, general basic background information for a character that would fit in this haunting vampiric tale ready before session 0 but be aware that things will potentially shift after we talk as a group, so be ready to be flexible if needed! If you have your heart set on a particular character detail, however, please let me know and I will do my best to work that in for you! I am a big fan of unofficial published DnD content for character creation and I usually have no restrictions and never any banned races/features etc., so please reach out to me if you have any interesting ideas for your character and we can workshop it to help it fit into the game. After Session 0 you will be expected to make a fully fleshed out character sheet prior to Session 1 and you are welcome to use a digital creator like D&D Beyond or a physical handwritten sheet. Please reach out to me if you need help filling out your sheet and I would be happy to work with you on it. I allow players to take one free feat, which will be discussed at Session 0 to make sure we try to have a balanced party that will be fun for all. We will be using milestones to level up throughout the campaign and I expect to get to mid-high level by the end of the campaign (around 11-14). Though this highly depends on the table and where the story takes us!

Preparing for the session

Things you will need: - Discord account - webcam (or similar video device) - microphone or headset (built in is totally fine as long as you have tested it) - basic character idea - internet with the capabilities that can accommodate several hour long sessions - a quiet, distraction free space to play in - 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 haunting darkness of this spooky setting - additional materials may be required depending on the table and the progression of the campaign Optional: - cozy blanket - warm drink - spooky lighting - love of vampires, gothic aesthetic, horror, ghouls and ghosties

What GoPorridgeGaming brings to the table

I want to take you on a dark, intense, potentially scary adventure through this Plane of Dread. I hope the things outlined below that I can bring to you as a GM will help me bring the Curse of Strahd to life at our table. This campaign draws inspiration from popular and classic vampire and gothic horror media from Bram Stoker’s Dracula and The Picture of Dorian Gray, to Castlevania and Interview with a Vampire, as well as vampiric myths and legends from cultures around the world. Humor is an essential way people cope through fear so it is expected to have levity at the table, however I also expect a certain level of seriousness from all players to ensure we can dive into the dark thrills of this game. We will be using a stress/fear mechanic (described more in detail below) to heighten the horrifying aspects of the encounters and settings that you’ll be playing through. 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 moderately dangerous combat that does not feel punishing and I enjoy letting my players run wild with what they can do. I am a huge fan of crafting and designing props and may 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”, pinterest boards and albums as well as possible custom artwork both physical and digital, such as the campaign listing picture I drew. 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 homebrew 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. I will also be using a stress/fear mechanic that will help create structure for the toll this horror setting has on your character. When you experience something haunting, scary, stressful, your character begins to feel the negative effects. This conditional effect continues to get worse as more fear piles on until you find a way to relax, unwind, or find some pleasure in something.

How GoPorridgeGaming creates a safe table

Especially as this is a game with a particularly dark/eerie 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 this gothic horror setting. 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. Their limits and discomforts can be anonymous to the rest of the group. 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 might be stepping into quite uncomfortable places together in this game. There is the potential for sexual themes, extreme violence and certainly blood and the charming of PCs to come up. I want to be extremely careful to navigate any hard subjects consensually as a table and have safe fun together. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to reach out.