To Save a Kingdom... 🏰 (A 🏳️‍🌈 & Newbie Friendly Game in A5e)

Creating your character

We have been developing our own character creation system for several years. It is built for developing slightly stronger than usual characters who are the protagonists of our cooperative storytelling and consist of four sections: 1. Childhood, 2. Adolescence, 3. Apprenticeship, and 4. Fate. The childhood and adolescence both feature tables to randomize the things in your past that you have no control over, such as your genetics. However, the system is designed for the player to veto anything and make a choice of something else. Simply put, no random roll is going to dictate what or who your character is. You can always make your own choice instead (other than the usual random dice rolls, of course!). In the Apprenticeship section you develop your character through making choices of how you want to focus your training before you became an adventurer. The Fate section provides you with some roleplaying and character suggestions which you are free to build in to your character or ignore. We have compiled 50 Lineages (Race/Heritage - not including the possibilities of lineages with two different parents), 16 Classes (with 340+ Subclasses), and 129 Occupations (Backgrounds) from multiple 5e and A5e sources and adjusted them to suit the A5e system. That creates the possibility of nearly 300 million possible character builds! The vast number of choices can be somewhat overwhelming, thus we created our custom character system both to narrow down the options for players without the need for players to read through hundreds of pages of options, and based it around the likelihood of being born into a certain lineage, heritage, and culture in our signature world of Valine. But we never want to take away choice! Rolling multiple times upon the table until an intiguing result comes up is not uncommon, especially for players that are less familiar with our world and the game in general! We will work with each player to create a character you can enjoy and that fits with your play style. Players that sign up within 48 hours that we cannot schedule a Session 0 for can choose from multiple pregenerated characters until they feel comfortable rolling up their own. Particularly in the early portion of the campaign, switching characters to find the best fit is encouraged and there will be several points in the story between Level 1 and Level 5 at which this option is provided. We'll talk you through every stage of the process to clarify any unfamiliar rules you encounter, and we are often available between sessions to clarify rules and abilities.

Preparing for the session

All you need is a free Discord account to join our server and get access to the voice channel and the free demo version of Fantasy Grounds (available at fantasygrounds.com). A webcam is optional. Some of our parties like to be on camera and see each other, some are fine with only using voice channels. We have several PDF documents to assist you in the game that deal with basic world lore, house rules, and needed clarifications. Those will be available in our discord server for your reference, as well as recaps of previous sessions to assist you in remembering important campaign events. Pregenerated characters will always be available in the event of last minute signups and/or character deaths.

What The Rob of Wonder brings to the table

I provide the Ultimate license for Fantasy Grounds, so players need only install the Demo version. A mic is needed for use on the Discord voice channel, and use of video is optional. Although centered on *Level Up: Advanced 5e* the compatability with *D&D 5e* and *Tales of the Valiant* allows use of certain rules from all three systems. An optional rules document will be provided ahead of time and the party can vote on which rules they want to implement for the adventure (just remember... NPCs and monsters get to play by the same rules!) I'll be available for an hour or so 1 or 2 days prior to the session for character rollup/cleanup and questions, and our dedicated Discord channel for the campaign allows for questions to be asked and answered between sessions. Ambience and music play on the voice channel, but you will have control over the volume through your own headphones and the option to mute the music and ambience if desired. The style is relaxed and encourages roleplay. We'll apply Rules as Written when required, but for the most part, I prefer to let the story take center stage and allow a fair amount of flexibility with the rules as written if it enhances the heroism of your characters - you are, after all, the heroes of the story! The first official campaign for Advanced 5e takes characters from Level 1 to Level 13, facing down 3 iconic "boss" monsters along the way. Designed to highlight the improvements made to the base 5e rules, we will occasionally pause to explain the differences. The Advanced 5e system is backwards compatible with 5e, so previous experience with 5e will help, however no experience with either 5e or Advanced 5e is necessary. The setting for the campaign wil be in Eye Wonder Artistry's signature setting of Valine. With 10 years of development behind it, Valine has a wiki in progress to help you find out more about the wider world the world, and it is available as a reference during play.

Homebrew rules

Here is a brief overview of the homebrew rules (some optional to be voted on by the group as a whole)" - Custom Character Creation System - Luck and Inspiration Systems running in parallel - Limited Critical Hit and Fumble Tables add extra flavor. (Optional) - Degrees of Success for Skill Checks and Group Checks - Flanking Bonuses that increase with each additional attacker surrounding a target - Firing into combat carries a greater risk of hitting an ally - Reroll Initiative each round, better simulating the chaos of combat (Optional) - Adjusted Inititative tiebreakers favoring impulsive reactions and quick thinking - Silver Standard Economy - Reworked Magic System featuring five sources of magic (Arcane, Divine, Occult, Primal, Technology) and introducing Spell Legality.

How The Rob of Wonder creates a safe table

I will schedule a time with players who have not played with me before to go over safety tools and discuss any lines, veils and triggers for the player. If you join the gain within 48 hours of the session and we cannot find a suitable time to meet prior to the game, I will send a thorough message with relevant documentation for you to look over. In sessions planned more than 3 hours, there will be a scheduled 10 minute break around the two hour mark.