Horrors of Strixhaven - One Shot - 2nd level Characters
It starts as a whimsical, magical coming of age story, before taking a dark twist. Hit me up on discord! https://discord.gg/8uEgrXY2MB
About the adventure
This week, players are 2nd year students who have been sent on an expedition into the badlands beyond school grounds, to capture a gnoll for use as a specimen in their magical physiologies class. The setting is a homebru mash up of a foreboding arcane academy in an eldritch horror setting with the more whimsical Strixhaven University from the Magic: the Gathering. I would like to play with some theater kids and other crunchy role play enthusiasts. There will be plenty of combat but monsters are a little on the easy side. If you typically optimize for high damage output, this game is going to be different from what you are used to. I have been thinking fondly of running this adventure for years, and I decided to run a bunch of one shots to meet new members of the gaming community after another group fell apart in the planning phase. The full length campaign will start at level 1. We are planning to rely on the official material a lot, but continuing past the end of the given adventure and up to level 12 or 13 or so. I am especially excited to play with the Strixhaven specific character backgrounds, feats, and spells. Since this content was released a few years ago, many DMs have banned it at their tables, saying that Strixhaven player options should only be used in that setting. This is our big chance. You can make a wizard that learns shillelagh and uses intelligence, or a paladin that will learn haste, and silvery barbs to your heart's desire!
$6.00
/ Session
Details
Once / Tuesday – 11:00 PM UTC
Jul 22
2.5–3 Hour Duration
0 / 5 Seats Filled
GAME MASTER
Jamie
he/him
5.0
(14)
Each player will be charged when a session starts.
Report Adventure
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(14)
3 years on StartPlaying
167 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Teacher, Inclusive
Average response time: 24+ hours
Response rate: 100%
About me
Hi, I am Jamie. For the past two years I have been DMing three campaigns across a homebru world, Wildemount, and Tomb of Antihalation. In 2020, during the Covid 19 pandemic, there was a very serious death in my family. At the same time, my employment situation suffered a major hit. I was able to cope by streaming the entire first campaign of Critical Role while hiking and gardening on the hillsides of rural Pennsylvania. I have been a fantasy nerd for as long as I could read, having cut my eye teeth on the Chronicles of Dragonlance and the Lord of the Rings. I am also a yoga teacher, an environmentalist, and a purveyor of natural health foods and remedies. In my late thirties, I have discovered my mind drawn more naturally towards simple maths, which has led to a penchant for investment portfolio management, and now tabletop game design. Through my journeys as a yoga teacher and other health and wellness activities, I have come to realize a truth that I had intuited as a child: There is tremendous power through the immersion in fantasy to make us whole at the emotional, mental and spiritual levels. Thank you for considering joining me on our mutual path! Sometimes folks ask, why should I pay to play? Great question. The money that you pay for the game supports me in continuing to provide an immersive fantasy experience. A lot of work goes into preparing for each gaming session. I spend a lot of time and energy creating custom content, working the bugs out of published modules, answering questions out of game, helping players with their characters, and many other tasks to make sure we all have fun! You can expect professional customer service from a reliable and punctual DM who loves what he does and will see the campaign through to the end. You can expect custom story elements for your character to be embedded in the larger story arch. If you provide me with an apropos plot hook from your character background I will endeavor to include it as a quest and deepen our shared immersion. We will use scintillating customized maps and creatures from a variety of core and non-core sources. I will also be providing a number of hand made tabletop set pieces streamed from my home! Deep cut lore carefully curated and interwoven by a dedicated critter. Modern standards for inclusivity and boundaries are tactfully enforced.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Choose a Strixhaven background and the associated feat. Use of other spells and features from the setting is encouraged. I recommend players choose a full spell casting class (bard, cleric, druid, sorcerer, warlock, or wizard). If you had someone else in mind, I very strongly encourage a half caster (artificer, paladin, ranger) or a 1/third caster (arcane trickster, eldritch knight), to maximize the synergy of your character with the setting. If you want to play something less magical, you can lean into the misfit archetype. Magic items: none to start. Regular starting equipment and stat spreads. Everything you need and more you will find in the setting. No hexblade dips, but full class warlock is ok. Generally, multiclassing and complex META builds are discouraged in favor of role playing, less often used subclasses, and max level spells. I generally allow all the new 5e content, but I am still using the 2014 rulebooks. I am learning the new rules, but I will rely on your good faith interpretation. Make a list of 3-5 bullet points of the most important new rules interactions that you expect to be relevant to your character. https://dnd5e.wikidot.com/background:lorehold-student https://dnd5e.wikidot.com/background:prismari-student https://dnd5e.wikidot.com/background:witherbloom-student https://dnd5e.wikidot.com/background:silverquill-student https://dnd5e.wikidot.com/background:quandrix-student https://dnd5e.wikidot.com/feat:strixhaven-initiate
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Players will need a laptop or desktop computer with a microphone in a room with a good internet connection and minimal background noise. A mobile phone or tablet can be handy as a secondary device, but it will not work with the virtual table top.
What Jamie brings to the table
I like to improvise and do voices. I am not great at it but I love it. I also have all of the monsters we need in Roll20 and I try to always have a beautiful full color map or some interesting art to look at on the virtual tabletop.
Homebrew rules
Drinking a potion as a bonus action. Setting specific player options are encouraged. No hexblade dips. I have some other house rules I can't think of at the moment. I tend to use the ones that are widely adopted by the community. I have never had a player complain about a house rule. If anything I err on the side of being too lawful in my alignment.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Jamie creates a safe table
Since this is a one shot, we will not be doing a full proper session zero. I like to discuss lines and veils with players in discord before the game, as well as character aspirations in role play and combat. I am always available via discord for aftercare. I also tend to encourage players to wear pajamas, get comfortable, bring snacks and drinks, and excuse themselves as needed.
Content warnings
Safety tools used
Additional tables
1 available
Once / Tuesday – 11:00 PM UTC
Jul 29
2 / 5 Seats Filled