Etharis or Drakkenheim | Player-Driven Campaign
Etharis or Drakkenheim. In one, dark and foul things lurk in every corner. In the other, corruption and social intrigue may destroy the continent.
$20.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Monday – 1:00 PM UTC
2–4 Hour Duration
4 / 6 Seats Filled
About the adventure
This is a full campaign starting at level 3 and progressing to whatever level the story takes us. Probably fairly high. We will be using the D&D2024 rules and classes. This is a player-driven campaign, which means that I as the GM don't have a set story ready. You as a player make your character, write a backstory, and have your goals. I take all that from you and the other players, and weave it together into a (hopefully) cohesive story. If it is set in the world of Etharis, the world designed as the main setting for Grim Hollow and its rules, the game is likely to have a darker theme as fits the world, but to what extent will depend on the story the players want to tell. It primarily pulls on themes of gothic horror and Grimm fairy tales. As said, there are a number of rules that are recommended for use in a Grim Hollow game- Extended Resting, Injuries, Advanced Backgrounds, Transformations, Boon and Beast Dice pools. None of these are guaranteed to be included, I like them, but it will be a majority vote so if you like the idea of one of them, be ready to advocate. If Drakkenheim is chosen, the Haze, created by the corruptive and alien mineral Delerium corrupts, mutates, and warps all that enter it in short order will be a major threat. But Delerium itself can corrupt you. It is a bargain between its intense magical power and its malign influence. Darkkenheim has a similarly dark theme, but pulls on themes eldritch horror more than gothic horror or folklore. While injuries and extended rests aren't a concern, corruption must be managed. There are no advanced backgrounds, but a new class, the Apothecary, provides new options, alongside a monster harvesting and item crafting system.
Game style
Roleplay Heavy
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(10)
2 years on StartPlaying
140 games hosted
Highly rated for: World Builder, Creativity, Knows the Rules
Average response time: Under 1 hour
Response rate: 100%
About me
My name's Aaron, hailing from the county of Lincolnshire, UK. I have played tabletop games for 11 years through family, friends and previous paid gigs for DMing. From D&D to Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay or homebrew custom games I have experienced and run many instances of long-form campaigns, one-shot sessions and roleplay scenarios. I first discovered my capability as a DM, homebrewer and creative within the tabletop scene from a long-running campaign which started during my time in college, this one campaign has lasted almost 4 years (and counting) alongside multiple other campaigns with other scenarios, storylines and mechanics (using a host of homebrewed content like a set of Survival rules, a settlement building system, an attempt to fix martial-caster disparity in combat, and a lot of monsters, spells, feats, items, races, and subclasses. And that's without mentioning all of the third-party content).
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
The majority of character creation will happen before Session 0. We will be rolling for stats but I have my own rules for that to ensure that no one is truly weak. You will be starting at level 3. Characters will be made on Roll20 with the in-built character creator. Most of my owned content exists as pdfs or on D&DBeyond, so there will be a lot of manual entry. If that seems daunting, don't worry, I can take care of a lot of it. The only real restrictions are with species, though some subclasses will also need to be approved. I will provide access to my 3rd-party content, so if it isn't from Grim Hollow or Drakkenheim but is in my sources- run it past me first. If it isn't in my sources at all, then you MUST run it past me.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Only a few things are needed for my game. You will need a mic, but no webcam. You will need a Roll20 account, and a Discord account (I don't like the voice and text chat systems on Roll20, Discord is much better). Obviously, for those, you will also need an internet connection. Stable if possible to minimise disruption. A good attitude is a plus, punctuality is a must.
What Aaron brings to the table
I will be providing the VTT, complete with maps and tokens. I'm no artist so don't expect anything handdrawn, and I do make use of AI art for tokens. If I could afford to pay an artist for every token I would, but I don't have that kind of money. It's a necessary evil I suppose. I will also provide access to all of my 3rd-party content, more than just the Grim Hollow and Drakkenheim content necessary for the game. And any official 5e source can be pulled from. I do tend to use character voices, but I'm not going to say I'm good at them. They're a good way to distinguish between what I, as the GM, am saying and what the character you are talking to is saying. I try to go by rule of cool where I can, but when I am particularly tired, I do tend to put that creativity aside a bit in favour of easier rulings that I have to think about less. But I'm getting better at not doing that. I can make use of ambient music, but I have found that in most previous games players end up muting it anyway so I tend not to these days.
Homebrew rules
There are a number of homebrew optional rules that could come up, but those are decided on in Session 0. It's not solely my choice, but all of the players, too.
Equipment needed to play
Computer
Microphone
Internet
Platforms used
Safety
How Aaron creates a safe table
In Session 0, we will go over what characters people want to play, finalise character creation, and decide on what optional and homebrew rules we want to use. This is also when we will go over Line and Veils, unless you'd rather talk about that privately. I will do my best to accommodate, but may slip up with some common themes. So like, if you have a Line on Spiders, you don't want any reference to anything spider-y, I might describe cobwebs sitting in the corner of a ruin. Not out of malice, but because that's a common feature of those types of places. I have certain content that I flat out will not allow in the game, mostly around sexual assault, because that is just not necessary in this kind of escapism. I also avoid any kind of injury involving fingernails or toenails because it just makes me viscerally uncomfortable.
Content warnings
Safety tools used