Dragonbane: Sword of the Dragon Empire
Dragonbane | Campaign
About the adventure
Welcome to the Misty Vale. This isolated valley has slumbered just past the edge of the civilized world, supposedly the remnant of a fallen dragon-worshiping empire, now only a source of roving monsters and rumors of lost wealth. Eight hundred years ago, when the world was a battlefield for dragons and demons, the dragon rider Eledain forged a capital for his empire here. To cement his power, he forged a sword known as Um-Durman, the blade of life, to maintain the balance between order and chaos. It is a weapon forged to protect against ancient evils, but in the wrong hands, Um-Durman could be a weapon of tyranny—an instrument of demonic darkness, or draconic fire. It was lost when Eledain's empire crumbled. But the history of the Vale cannot slumber forever. Over the last decade, the orc tribes inhabiting the Vale began to wane, and stalwart human settlers began to make inroads once again. Now there is even a small town—Outskirt—built in the shadow of a great draconic ruin. Following the ever-ambitious humans came dwarves, halflings, elves, and even a few wolfkin and mallards, ready to make a new home. It is said that the sword lies still in a crypt beneath the town, which can only be unlocked by a key broken into four pieces by Eledain's heirs, sought by holy knights, evil cultists, savage orc tribes...and adventurers like you! Dragonbane is a d20-based system from Free Leauge designed for furious and wimsical roleplay in a world of magic, mystery, and adventure. Rather than focusing on tactical combat and endless character customization, Dragonbane brings the focus back onto the adventure; travel, exploration, and role-play will take precedence over combat, which will be quick and deadly. This limited campaign will allow your party of adventurers to solve the mystery of the Misty Vale over the course of anywhere from four to a dozen sessions. Built from eleven smaller adventures, I will be able to tailor the length of the campaign to the interests of the group.
This will be a very short term campaign, probably lasting 2-3 sessions, for anyone interested in trying out Dragonbane! You will create your own characters, then explore the small but deadly dungeon of an ancient knight of the Dragon Empire!
5.0
(93)
3 years on StartPlaying
512 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Teacher, Storytelling
Additional details
How to prepare
To play, you'll need free accounts on Discord (which we'll use for voice chat and any ongoing group text discussions) and Roll20. You'll also need a microphone and speakers so that we can communicate via voice, and I highly recommend using a headset, and/or at least using push-to-talk to minimize background noise. I typically don't use webcams, although if most of the players want to (and nobody would be made uncomfortable by being on camera) I'm open to being on video. You won't need any knowledge of the rules before Session 0, and you can feel free to learn the game as we go!
What I provide
I have everything set up for the entire campaign, including maps, treasure, traps, etc. on Roll20 already. During Session 0 when you create your characters, I'll also open it up for you to find or make art for your character, which I'll turn into a token for the VTT! I typically like to do character voices myself, but I don't pressure anyone to do the same for their own roleplay. I typically run some ambient audio through Roll20, but this will not have any effect on the plot, and you're welcome to mute it if you ever find it distracting. This game tends toward quick, intense combat, but with less of an emphasis on in-depth tactics than similar games. It particularly awards teamwork in fighting monsters, and depending on the makeup and strengths of your adventurers, you'll likely end up developing some favored tactics. The system is focused very much on keeping things streamlined, so while we'll go with Rules as Written wherever possible, that shouldn't slow us down to much!
Gameplay details
Dragonbane is designed for ages 12+, and will hit many of the tropes you'd expect in a fantasy role-playing game. It tends toward a more medieval and dark aesthetic than you may be used to from D&D or Pathfinder, and the system is more deadly than those games tend to be, so it's important to be prepared for the possibility of failure or character death. That said, I fully intend for there to be plenty of room for humor and whimsy in this campaign as well. We will go over my list of lines & veils during our Session 0 for the campaign, and all players are invited to unilaterally add to that list at any time.
Content warnings
Safety tools used
• Breaks
• Lines and Veils
• Open Door
• Session 0
How will character creation work
We'll go through the character creation process step-by-step together during our Session 0, and your character sheets will be created and housed in Roll20. I'll make it so that everyone can see the core rulebook as we go through this process, so while you're welcome to read the rules ahead if you have access, that is very much not required.
Players can expect
Combat / Tactics
Medium
Roleplay
High
Puzzles
Medium
Experience level
Open to all
Platforms used
• Roll20
• Discord
$20.00
/ Session
Each player will be charged when a session starts.
Details
Bi-weekly / Friday - 12:00 AM UTC
May 9 / Session 6
3-4 Hour Duration
4 / 5 Seats Filled
Schedule
Requirements
Experience required: Open to all
Age: All Ages