For The Dungeon! A Comedy of Errors RPG (IN PERSON)

How to prepare

The most important thing players can do to prepare is ensure they have transportation arranged and communicate their availability well ahead of game time. If they have any allergies to food, plants, or cats, they should let me know ASAP once they join the game. (If they do not have allergy medication or other ways of dealing with/preventing any allergic reaction to cats, I will have to find a new location to run the game from.) No accounts on any websites are required except Discord, which is where I organize my games and communicate with players. I will have a copy of the rules and many character sheets on hand, and character creation will be a group activity. If players want to keep their character sheets in between sessions, they should make sure to store them in a place where they can be easily remembered, found, and retrieved. If players wish to bring their own dice, pencils, or other supplies, I absolutely encourage them to do so, but it will not be necessary. I recommend at least one player bring a notebook so the party can keep notes on their adventures, the places they go, and the people they meet.

What I provide

I will provide a location to play in, food and drink (which players can choose to contribute snacks and/or beverages to if they see fit), an old-fashioned wet-erase battlemap, custom minifigures on Heroforge (I am willing to subsidize one order of a physical print per player, up to 50%), a printed copy of the rulebook, printed character sheets, pencils, dice, my many years of GM experience, the very silliest of my voice-acting talent, and my fantastic sense of humor. I will use royalty-free music to set the tone during sessions, and will also create a playlist of regular music for the game on Spotify. Players can suggest songs to represent their characters for the playlist, and will be provided with a link to the playlist by the end of session 3 at the very latest. This game is a bit of a departure from my usual play style, but I've wanted to run it since the day I first bought it. Players are encouraged to make multiple zany, silly character ideas just for the fun of it; they will not likely last long individually, so it's better to come prepared. The campaign will run until the players achieve the primary objective of their chosen Dark Overlord, which will take a bare minimum of 15 sessions (and very likely more). Each session will be fraught with ridiculous danger, and the hectic shenanigans this game is designed to create will certainly make conflicts fast-paced and entertaining. The tactical depth of any given encounter will most likely play second fiddle to the comedic value of players' actions and their consequences.

Gameplay details

There will be a link to the Lines and Veils document and my Discord server in the prep materials for the game, and rules resources will be shared along with them. Session 0 will be spent going over the rules of the game, establishing the group's Dark Overlord and basic lore, creating characters, and discussing the party's Lines and Veils. Breaks for food will be taken when food arrives, and a scheduled break will be offered an hour afterward. I will create physical sets of X-cards for each player participating in this in-person game. Players interested in this in-person game should ensure they can easily drive, bus, or carpool to Silverdale, WA before signing up. I will message each player individually to let them know the meeting location. All player characters will be minions of a cartoonishly evil leader, so players can expect to be asked to do some cartoonishly evil things. I will compose and continually update a list of possible missions for the party to take on. I will post this list in my Discord server for all to see, and players may request alterations and/or removals of any mission ideas they are uncomfortable with, no questions asked.

Content warnings

Safety tools used

How will character creation work

If players can't think of any fun ideas at first, that's okay; I will do my best to encourage them and provide suggestions if they get stuck. Ideally, the whole process of character creation should be a communal effort. Each character starts with three Traits (Talent, Tool, & Motivation), one Perk, one Experience, and three Shiny to buy Items with. I'll include a writeup of a sample character I made, called Boblin the Goblin, to help explain the process. Talent (what the character is good at), Tool (the character's signature equipment), and Motivation (why the character does what they do) are the character's main Traits. They will always keep them, unless gameplay presents a narrative reason a player would want to change them. If that happens, the player can discuss changes with me. Boblin's Talent is "Wacky Alchemy", his Tool is a "Great Big Slingshot", and his Motivation is "My Friends Deserve The Best". This paints a good picture of who Boblin is: He's smart enough to do alchemy, but not wise enough to do it safely or constructively. He prefers to fight from a distance, shooting rocks or bombs or whatever else is handy from his slingshot. His goal is to make sure his fellow minions are happy and have what they need, making him a real team player. Perks are little superpowers players can give their characters, abilities that add bonuses or bend the rules of the game when applicable. Giving a character a Perk appropriate to their characterization is always a good idea to make gameplay more fun and cohesive. The rulebook has a list of Perks to pick from. Boblin's Perk is called "Mayhem": He can use prompts that come from critical failures to roll extra dice as if they were extra Traits applied to the scene, and he can reframe a critical failure to be a wildly improbable success once per session. Even catastrophic failure can be turned into success if you're crazy enough. Experience is gained from critical failures (if you survive them), and it can be used as extra Traits on your character sheet. Each bit of Experience represents a lesson you've learned from your failures, and every player starts with one. Utilizing Experience is risky, though. Failing the roll means that you'll forget that lesson forever, unless some similar disaster strikes you a second time. Boblin's Experience is "Don't Play With Explosives". The last time he did that, he lost his eyebrows and a few fingers. Finally, Shiny is the loot you get from your evil missions. Spending it on Items will give you more options when you act, and can even provide temporary Traits based on the items you bought. Boblin spent all three of his starting Shiny on "Beat-Up Tongs" and a "Knockout Gas Bomb". If he has to pick something up, he doesn't have to use his hands to do it, and if someone needs to go to sleep really fast, he can help with that.

Combat / Tactics

Medium

Roleplay

High

Puzzles

Low

Experience level

Open to all