Image by Dean Spencer
Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands
The keep on the borderlands fell long ago; now, bandits and monsters range from it, harassing innocent folk. Reclaim the keep, make it a stronghold!
TYPE
SYSTEM
LEVELS
LANGUAGE
EXPERIENCE
AGE
$30.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Saturday - 12:00 AM UTC
Session Duration / 2.5–3.5 hours
Campaign Length / 14+ Sessions
2 / 6 Seats Filled
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Meet your party members
2/6
About the adventure
For glory, good, or gold you and your party have decided to heed the call of adventure and explore the lands of the Shadowed Keep. Dangers lurk within, and fouler more odious things lurk 'neath its ruins. But this keep can be claimed again by good folk, and this is your chance to build your own legacy alongside your compatriots... if you can survive the keep and its perilous wilds! We have a few tables of solid, regular games but we're looking to add a few more players to the pool! Hop aboard and join the crew :) This adventure is intended to run for several months, but subsequent games may build off of it. We have a good number of steady players already in games I've been running for years, so if we get a few more hardy souls on board then we can build a lasting campaign out of this cornerstone adventure! The Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands is a love letter to the classic adventures like Keep on the Borderlands the Village of Hommlet- the land is dark and full of terrors, but you can help bring light to it again! Clips from some of my sessions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skSi4oFDScs Games that I run have: Expert DMing and improvisational skills to roll with your decisions and ideas 🧙♂️🎭 A homebrew setting, shaped and enjoyed by dozens of players over a decade 🗺 Beautiful battlemaps 🌆 Spell effects 🎆 Voice acting 🔊 Danger & consequences for your choices ⚔️ I run with a somewhat old-school mentality: life can be cheap and the world is full of danger, but I am a fan of the party. I want you to succeed! Your enemies though, they have their own ambitions- they're going to do their best to stop you. I love it when players get invested in their characters, but the dice will fall where they may; hold on lightly! The games that I run are very reactive and improvisational- your actions will have consequences, and you'll be presented with opportunities to alter the paths set before you. If you've played the Sunless Citadel before, this will not be exactly the same: I make alterations to fit the adventure into the setting, as well as to create interesting twists and turns while seeding possible future adventures for the party to follow up on.
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(24)
3 years on StartPlaying
480 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Storytelling, Voices
About me
Hey there! Quick rundown of my DMing style for you: 🧙♂️ Veteran DMing and improvisational skills to roll with your choices 🎭 Notable NPCs with immersive interactions 🗺 Quality battlemaps 🎆 Spell effects ⚔️ Engaging tactical combat 🙌 Newbie-friendly attitude with patience to walk you through an RPG There's an amazing feedback loop that happens when both the DM and the players are invested in the game. Whether it be characters, the story, the setting and lore- the more interest you show in the game that we're all enjoying together, the better it becomes! You can see gameplay clips and other content of mine at https://youtu.be/skSi4oFDScs https://youtube.com/@distracteddm https://www.tiktok.com/@distracteddm I'm an enthusiastic, experienced DM that's been playing & running TTRPGs such as Dungeons & Dragons for over 25 years- ever since I walked into a game store as an 11-year-old because it had a chess piece on the sign and I thought "I'd like to be good at chess." There was no chess to be had, but there were plenty of people playing wargames and D&D. The rest is history. I have experience in voice acting, teaching, and general nerddom- though my professional fields have been in Intellectual Property (Gaming, Streaming, Technology) and voiceovers. I love running games because of the choices that players make, the dramatic conflicts that are presented during play, and the way that players develop their characters and personalities throughout campaigns. I am delighted when the party does things that I don't expect- for this reason, I am also an excellent improviser. The world is a living place, though the primary actors are the players every NPC has their own reason for being that motivates them and informs their attitudes. The guard you're talking to in town doesn't know he's an NPC, he's a gruff man that respects the law and wants to safely get home to his family. I enjoy writing, especially scenes and short stories that are inspired by the world and actions that we put into motion at the gaming table. I may present these 'cutscenes' to players every few sessions, as it gives them insight into the world and other goings-on that are adjacent to their actions in the world. I like teaching new players, as well as running games for people that are old hands with the hobby! Welcome to the table, and I'll see you in the dungeon!
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
We'll all talk character creation in the Discord server before the game! It's best if everyone talks as a group about what kind of characters they'd consider making. Because low levels are dangerous, having a back-up character in mind is a good idea. Character death is uncommon, but it can happen! Players can use either 5e2014 characters, or Level Up A5E characters (I'll share those with you if you want to take a look, or they're freely available on the a5e.tools site).
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You'll need a microphone, a stable internet connection, and optionally a webcam. The virtual tabletop is via FoundryVTT (please see Foundry's Client Requirements https://foundryvtt.com/article/requirements/ ) Voice and between-session chat will be over Discord. Please have accounts created for: https://forge-vtt.com/ (this is a server service for FoundryVTT) Discord, installed Please ensure that Hardware Acceleration is turned on in your Chrome browser https://www.howtogeek.com/412738/how-to-turn-hardware-acceleration-on-and-off-in-chrome/
What Distracted DM brings to the table
An enthusiastic attitude, coupled with decades of experience A skillfully crafted, engaging setting with secrets to discover Animated and professionally done battlemaps Quality tokens and art A Discord server to talk about the game between sessions, including personal in-game downtime activities when relevant.
Homebrew rules
I have a brief house-rules handout I'll share, but in short: - We use Kobold Press' Luck instead of Inspiration. Missing an attack or save 1/round grants a point of luck, which can be used for a +1 bonus or 3pts can be used for a reroll. - Long Rests typically take a couple uninterrupted days of respite. Instead of most situational benefits granting Advantage (flanking, high ground, etc.) they grant a bonus d4 called an expertise die.
Equipment needed to play
Computer
Internet
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Distracted DM creates a safe table
Players can expect fast-paced 5e D&D tactical combat, roleplaying opportunities, and exploration of locations both interesting and dangerous. D&D is, as a system, focused on combat- but if you want to spend time forming relationships with people of the village or negotiating with foes, there are opportunities for such if you seize them! This is a fantasy world that includes combat, death, dangers, and magic. Please voice any issues (ex. arachnophobia) before or, if necessary, during play- this is an entertaining and engaging experience, mild discomfort may occur depending on the vividness of your imagination, but you should never be made more uncomfortable than you're comfortable with, if that makes sense :) "Romantic" encounters are fade to black ("the bard and the barman are into one-another, that night they meet, fade to black on that"). Descriptions of blood, death, violence, etc. are present but are not the focus- the intent is to draw you into the world.
Content warnings
Safety tools used