The Foul Waters
Dungeons & Dragons 5e | One-Shot
About the adventure
The stream your village gets its water from has begun to go foul, killing livestock and crops and leaving people sick and weak. With the health and safety of your hometown, a tiny village by the name of Bowshot, on the line, someone must step up and fix whatever is solving the problem. Will it be you alone? Will others step up to help figure out what's killing your neighbors? Your friends? This game is an introductory experience to Dungeons and Dragons 5e using the new 2024 Dungeon Masters Guide, Players Handbook, and Monster Manual. We will explore what it means to roleplay, how combat works, and how to interact with the world we'll be creating with the characters we build during a short character creation process, before spending several hours unraveling the mystery of the poisoned water, as well as exploring details about the small town of Bowshot and the inhabitants your character grew up with. Overall, I expect this session to take about 5.5-6 hours, with character creation for 4 players taking up roughly one hour, and gameplay consuming the last 4 or so hours.
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.
Roleplay Heavy
“Roleplay Heavy” games place the focus on the story, the characters, and the world they live within, and tend to lean hard into the various roleplaying elements of the game. These games will frequently find the party talking with NPCs, exploring the personal elements of their backstories, or even having emotional moments around the camp fire.
This is a game designed to teach players the basics of Dungeons and Dragons over a 5.5-6 hour session where we explore a simple, level 1 adventure using the Dungeon Master's Guide Sample Adventure. The aim of this game is to focus on walking players through learning to play the game, and exploring the various ways they can interact with the world using their character sheets.
Less than a year on StartPlaying
Average response time: 4 hours
Response rate: 100%
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Additional details
How to prepare
Players should have access to a D&D Beyond Account, a Discord account, a microphone, and a computer of some kind to participate. Players should take a look at basic rules for character creation and start thinking about what kind of character they want to play.
What I provide
We will be using the D&D Beyond Character Creation Tool, the D&D Beyond Maps VTT tool, and the example Level 1 adventure from the Dungeon Master's Guide. As a GM, I'm prone to fun puzzles, voices, NPC shenanigans, and combat focused around telling a story, rather than an HP slap-fight between mobs and players. I like to see characters with backgrounds that take other players/characters into account. I also like to work with players on learning their class and their abilities! The story is my favorite aspect of the game and if at the end of the day all of the players go home with at least one fun story from the night, I've done my job right.
Gameplay details
Players can expect combat laced with secondary objectives, roleplay focused around their characters and the choices they make, and a story designed to introduce beginners to how Dungeons and Dragons plays. I use breaks before heavy scenes and combat, and I use X, N, O cards via DMs so that players have the agency they need to protect themselves and their interests in the story. Additionally, I require all players to fill out a Lines and Boundaries questionnaire to ensure that I know where their lines are on issues and concerns. Gameplay is expected to follow the general convention of GM prompts players > players respond > GM rules on responses and actions > Cycle repeats.
Content warnings
Safety tools used
• Breaks
• Lines and Veils
• X, N, and O Cards
How will character creation work
We will use Level 1 Characters with official Wizards Of The Coast content. Characters will use Standard Array ability scores. While they may choose any background they desire, as discussed in the Game Description each character will be hailing from the small logging and now mining town of Bowshot.
Players can expect
Combat / Tactics
Medium
Roleplay
Medium
Puzzles
Medium
Experience level
Beginner
Platforms used
• D&D Beyond Maps
• D&D Beyond
• Discord
Free
Each player will be charged when a session starts.
Details
Once / Tuesday - 7:00 PM UTC
May 6
5-9 Hour Duration
4 / 4 Seats Filled
Requirements
Experience required: Beginner
Age: 18+