Armies of Despair: The Reign of Esarin
Battle through a ruined world as Esarin, god of war, conquers all. Serve, rebel—or fall in the path of his divine carnage.
$19.50
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Sunday - 2:30 AM UTC
Mar 15 / Session 15
Session Duration / 2.5–4 hours
5 / 6 Seats Filled
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Schedule
About the adventure
The Last United Army of Elves, Dwarves, and Half-Orcs (EDO) is out of time. For two years, they’ve fought to stop the Armies of Despair, and for two years, the Despair Empire has grown stronger. The Sixteen Orbs of Nuitari, erected just two years ago, choked the land under an iron grip of darkness. Any magic not sanctioned by the God of Evil Magic flickered and died in their presence. Then one fell. 💥 The Fields of Perpetual Harvest burned as the first orb shattered. The war escalated. The gods moved their pieces. And in response, the Despair Empire unleashed its greatest weapon. 💀 Esarin Has Arrived. And He is Very, Very Pissed. To say that Aegis Despair IV is mad would be an understatement—he’s absolutely livid because the fall of the orb forced his hand. He has unleashed Esarin, Demigod of War and Violence, heir to the Despair Empire and the perfect soldier. Trained in a bubble universe where time flowed thousands of years in a month, Esarin knows nothing but war. He doesn’t negotiate. He doesn’t conquer. He destroys. And now he marches upon the last major strongholds of resistance: 🏰 Faerun East: Towers of emerald and diamond, shimmering with celestial energy. 🏙️ Faerun South: Walls of quartz and Weretiger’s Eye, shifting from deep violet to fiery amber. 🏛️ Faerun West: A fortress of pink Els’ii, a sentient magic crystal of the material plane. But even your allies are in conflict. The High Elves of each city refuse to acknowledge the others exist. Their rulers, arrogant and isolated, only recognize their own city as the true Faerun. Diplomacy is a disaster and the war effort is a bureaucratic nightmare. So, if you were hoping to get them on the same page, you’ll need bribes, blackmail, or just a really big stick. ☀️ The Gods Have Entered the War Just as the Armies of Despair seem unstoppable, Solinari, god of celestial magic and justice, has sent his champion—Solis, the Bringer of Dawn—at the head of an army of angels. 🔥 Spears of holy fire rain down. ⚔️ Celestial blades clash with infernal steel. 🐉 The Metallic Dragons prepare to join—but they await Bahamut’s blessing. But divine intervention alone won’t win this war. Victory will be decided in the trenches, where: Fire Giant artillery flattens battalions, Magically infused machine guns cut down soldiers like wheat, Necromantic war machines fuel the endless cycle of death, And no one—not even the gods—knows how this will end. ⚔️ What’s Your Part in This? 🛑 Take down more of Nuitari’s Orbs and disrupt his hold over magic. 🎯 Assassinate Esarin’s war generals & necromancers before they unleash hell. 🔥 Sabotage Fire Giant artillery encampments to cripple the war machine. 🏰 Unite the Faerun cities, one way or another. ⚔️ Lead troops in massive battles, commanding war beasts, trench mages, and shock troops. 🐲 Negotiate with the Metallic Dragons—get Bahamut’s blessing before it’s too late. 💀 Survive.
Game style
Roleplay Heavy
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
1 year on StartPlaying
242 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Rule of Cool, Storytelling
Average response time: 1 hour
Response rate: 100%
About me
I'm currently a House DM at The Kobold Lounge, where I run 3 homebrew campaigns for adults, as well as an introductory game for kids and another for teens. I started with a weekly game at my house. Shortly after I learned to play, I had to move. To keep up with my new hobby, I found and joined ahome game that was posted online. It was a terrible experience. Nobody at the table was having fun except for the DM, who delighted in playing against his party. His players looked and sounded bored, almost miserable; I never went back. Instead, I decided to start my own game with one goal: to make sure everyone has fun! -- If money is an obstacle, please DM me. I care more about us having fun than making money. I put a lot of effort into becoming the DM I am today, I make immersive, creative content that literally over a hundred players have loved & that's why I'm here. I'd like to make a living doing this, but I care about my players & that's never going to change.--- I started running my first homebrew D&D campaign in 2016. Since then I've engaged in collaborative storytelling with a ton of amazing players. I enjoy being a Sandbox DM, and I love players with unique ideas they want to try. My tables, physical and virtual, are the place to try out that crazy character idea or homebrewed subclass. I want to DM on StartPlaying to reach a wide player base, bring people together to have a blast, and provide opportunities for players everywhere to participate in my games.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
There will be an opportunity to build characters during Session 0, but you're more than welcome to come with a character already prepared. Generally speaking, I have almost 0 restrictions on character creation. I love hosting games that allow my players to be as creative, chaotic, and bizarre as they truly want to be. As far as actual character creation mechanics, you'll roll your stats, rerolling ALL 1's Im open to virtually any idea, just run it by me. If something seems a little too OP or potentially game breaking, we can work together to find a way for you to explore those ideas.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You will need a discord account, with at least a mic, webcams are highly encouraged but not required. A dndbeyond account is a necessity. We'll discuss all homwbrew rules at session 0. Having a familiarity with the D&D 5e system is helpful but not required at all.
What DM Nug Gnome brings to the table
VTT, character voices, ambient music, sound effects, custom maps, races, subclasses, and items. You can expect intense, creative combat and a DM very dedicated to role-playing. I take pride in playing monsters, enemies and other NPCs as true to form as possible. I'm very much a Rule of Cool DM & tend to encourage the more chaotic ideas my players come up with. I implement a number of house rules, using D&D 5e as a framework.
Equipment needed to play
Microphone
Internet
Platforms used
Safety
How DM Nug Gnome creates a safe table
We will cover potential triggers and content warnings during our session 0. There will be an X card system with options to publicly or privately bring up issues that make you uncomfortable.
Content warnings
Safety tools used


