Rise of the Runelords: A Varisian Saga (D&D 5e)
Dungeons & Dragons 5e, Level Up Advanced 5th Edition | Campaign
About the adventure
From the idyllically peaceful coastal town of Sandpoint to an ancient lost city at the top of the world, Rise of the Runelords takes a party of adventurers from 1st to over 20th level and delves into the mysteries of Varisia's ancient past. Millennia ago, the powerful empire of Thassilon ruled the land, dominated by despotic Runelords who maintained their power by harnessing the power of rune magic. Thought gone forever, the workings of Thassilon are not so far beneath the surface, and one of the Runelords plans a return to power. Only the brave adventurers stand in his way. Taking this even further, this epic weaves in elements of Second Darkness, Jade Regent, Shattered Star, and more to create a truly Varisia-spanning epic. ------------ You're looking at that list of modules and thinking "that is impossible". It is! I am not aiming to run four fully-fledged adventure paths concurrently, but rather to weave elements of them into one larger Varisia/Runelords-centred epic. To accommodate this, progression will be slower, but with additional progression through bastions, talents, and more, you'll have plenty of ways to kit out and customize your character. Even so, this is an ambitious task, so I'm looking for a group of players who are excited to tell an epic story, explore the Varisia region, and undertake something that will likely take us several years to complete. Along the way, we'll discover ancient secrets, combat foes both classic and new, and attain levels of power that will likely take you into the realms of mythic adventure. It's going to be huge.
Game style
Rule of Cool (RoC)
“Rule of Cool” emphasizes creative story beats over sticking to a system’s rules as written. Players have the ability to push the limits of the rules or even break core rule mechanics at times if the Game Master thinks it is interesting, fun, or cool enough.
5.0
(16)
3 years on StartPlaying
87 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Knows the Rules, Teacher
Average response time: 2 hours
Response rate: 100%
Additional details
How to prepare
While you should wait until session zero to finalize your character, you're welcome to begin building your character as soon as you've had a chance to read the player's guide and character creation guidelines. You'll need a Roll20 account, Discord account, Forge account, and Syrinscape account to participate fully.
What I provide
In addition to more than 26 years of DMing experience and 3+ years of professional DMing experience, I bring an exhaustive library of official and 3PP resources, five active servers on Forge, a dedicated Discord server with a community of more than 80 members, a Roll20 pro subscription, and a Syrinscape pro subscription. I am also a trained actor and professional writer.
Gameplay details
All of my campaigns begin with a session zero in which we discuss potentially triggering content and safety tools, workshop how best to fit a character into the campaign's narrative, and I provide an overview of the campaign. We use Lines & Veils to categorize potentially troublesome content, with X/N/O cards for any incidences of in-game discomfort. I also provide after care.
Content warnings
Safety tools used
• Aftercare
• Lines and Veils
• Session 0
• X, N, and O Cards
How will character creation work
We'll be using the D&D 2025 rules, with some elements of Level Up: A5e to flesh out the social and exploration pillars a little. We'll also use Dragonix's Character Options: Talents system.
Players can expect
Combat / Tactics
Medium
Roleplay
High
Puzzles
Low
Experience level
Open to all
Platforms used
• Foundry VTT
• Discord
$30.00
/ Session
Each player will be charged when a session starts.
Details
Bi-weekly / Thursday - 7:00 PM UTC
3.5-4.5 Hour duration
0 / 5 Seats filled
Requirements
Experience required: Open to all
Age: All Ages