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5e Dragon Heist & Dungeon of the Mad Mage
The city of Waterdeep holds mysteries and danger. And treasure. Lots of treasure.
$20.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Tuesday - 12:30 AM UTC
Dec 16 / Session 20
Session Duration / 3 hours
Campaign Length / 50–100 Sessions
6 / 6 Seats Filled
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Schedule
Meet your party members
6/6
About the adventure
The mad wizard, Halaster, crafted a deviously designed dungeon, 23 levels deep, with ever-increasing challenges. You, young adventurer, are tasked with locating Halaster himself, and putting an end to his mad machinations of conquering the bustling, cosmopolitan city of Waterdeep, which lies above the dungeon. You and your companions will delve down into the deepest, darkest corners, seeking wealth, magic, and fame along the way. Tricks, traps, monsters, secrets, and treasures are found in abundance within, and while the risks are great, so too are the rewards. While this dungeon is certainly a classic delve, down into the most legendary dungeon of Faerún, Undermountain, it is also an exploration into ecosystems of monsters. The characters are not just hacking and slaying everything they find (unless they want to), but instead have options to work with or against varying factions present on every level. Role-playing is not as prevalent in this adventure as is many others, except that which occurs between the players, but there is still enough NPC interaction that everyone can find something enjoyable about this grand dungeon exploration. Combat/Exploration/Role-playing mix is about 50/30/20 Each level of the Dungeon of the Mad mage is massive in scope, with many levels having as many as 100 rooms. Milestones will be used for levelling instead of experience, with the characters reaching a new character level every one or two dungeon levels they "clear." A level is cleared when the major challenges have been addressed, with combat or without, and the party has located the stairs down to the next level. Hope to see you in the Mad Mage's lair!
Game style
Dungeon Crawl
Combat Heavy
Roleplay Heavy
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(59)
4 years on StartPlaying
1438 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Knows the Rules, Storytelling
Average response time: 14 hours
Response rate: 100%
About me
Greetings and welcome to adventure! I am Drew, I live in Arizona, and I create and manage epic tales of adventure for tabletop role-playing games. I have over 40 years experience as a game master for many different fantasy and sci-fi RPGs, and I enjoy everything about the classic and the new games. I am a GM for real-life games at my home, as well as several online campaigns using Fantasy Grounds and Foundry VTT. Hundreds of players from all around the world have enjoyed my epic tales, and most have returned again and again to experience the next campaign. I have a Juris Doctorate, and a B.A. in History from Arizona State University, and I have found both of these accreditations are useful as a Dungeon Master. In fact, I believe my skill with D&D helped me immensely in law school, as the same tools I learned as a DM were useful as a law student (i.e. analyzing a set of rules to a hypothetical issue to arrive at an informed conclusion). Currently, I am running D&D 5E, Pathfinder, Old-School Essentials, Shadowdark, and Mutant Crawl Classics campaigns for a variety of players in several ongoing campaigns. Please check my posts to find the current schedule, as well as announcements for future campaigns. My style of GMing depends largely on the players wishes, but defaults to a fairly even mix of combat/role-playing/exploration, depending on the demands of the campaign. Do you like the intense strategy of fighting for your characters' lives? No problem. Enjoy the ongoing elements of cinematic story line? I will make it happen? Do you want the excitement of exploring long-forgotten crypts and dungeons in the classic style of a Gygaxian dungeon delve? Me too! There is something for everyone, and the players in my campaigns find themselves immersed, participating in the world, and playing off of each other’s' dynamics. Every type of player is welcome, and your experiences will always be memorable. I incorporate all the bells and whistles of latest virtual tabletop (VTT) technology in order to maximize the amount of productive game time, and minimize technical fussing with software and dice modifiers. I have a full suite of modules and extensions for Fantasy Grounds and Foundry VTT, which means you will have clickable components for every spell, item, feat, racial and class ability available. I use only the best map-making software, and take great pride in offering players top-quality visual components. I also offer free sessions on fine-tuning your character, as well as advice on how best to get the most from your gaming experience. Communication with me outside of campaign hours is free and encouraged, so that everyone is able to enjoy the best possible online adventures. Hope to see you in the fantasy universe! -Jin
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Characters will begin at 1st level, or at the current level of the party if joining an ongoing campaign. Characters can be created using point buy or standard array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8), and starting gear from the Player's handbook for early levels of the dungeon. Higher level characters may get some magic items in order to to be effective against higher-level challenges. Players can create a character using D&D Beyond, and import them into Fantasy grounds, or may simply create them prior to their first session using Fantasy grounds.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You will need only a computer, a microphone, and the free version of Fantasy Grounds Unity (see below for link). This campaign will take place entirely on Fantasy Grounds Unity virtual tabletop, using Discord and a microphone. Video is optional. You will need a copy of Fantasy Grounds Unity demo version or better, which is free, and can be downloaded at https://www.fantasygrounds.com/home/home.php or on Steam. Fantasy grounds is an intuitive program to use for D&D tabletop simulation, but has a slight learning curve. It is suggested that players watch this tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU6OlMAgGQg&t=316s . Alternatively, there are Fantasy Grounds classes which can be located on Discord at Fantasy Grounds Academy https://discord.com/channels/336996544308051979/543087225001476098
What Jinjeet brings to the table
The DM has the ultimate license of Fantasy Grounds, and thus you will only need the free demo version. The DM will also provide all of the necessary modules and plug-ins for Fantasy Grounds, including all the 3rd-party extensions used to create a more streamlined game with less downtime. All the source books for 5E D&D are made available through Fantasy Grounds at no extra expense for the players. Syrinscape audio and sound effects are used in every campaign in order to provide full immersion and a realistic play experience. The DM also has a Discord community with over 80 players and DMs from other campaigns, providing a forum for chats, memes, character builds, strategy, roleplaying and more!
Homebrew rules
Rules as written.
Equipment needed to play
Computer
Headphones
Microphone
Internet
Platforms used
Safety
How Jinjeet creates a safe table
As in most RPGs, this game will contain simulated combat and scenes of violence, which are an integral part of the rule system. However, there is rarely any need for specific gory details, and often an abstract phrase such as "defeated the monsters" will take place rather then "you have slayed/killed/murdered," etc. Be advised, however, that in some instances, graphic details may need to be provided to illustrate the scene (i.e. "your fireball incinerates the hobgoblins, and the room now stinks of burnt flesh"). These descriptors are thematic only, and not intended to be the driving impetus of the creatures' and players' motivations in the campaign. Players who feel uncomfortable with such scenes are encouraged to ask for breaks, or contact the GM personally, while the group re-evaluates everyone's comfort level. There will be no judgment or penalties directed toward players who are not comfortable with specific scenes.
Content warnings
Safety tools used