OH HELL NO! A Descent into Avernus

Creating your character

Please come to Session 0 with the following: 1.) YOUR PLAYER CHARACTER created on D&D Beyond. It is free to make an account. When you join our Campaign, you will be invited to the Campaign page on D&D Beyond, where you may access the 2024/2025 resources with Content Sharing via my Master Tier Subscription. Please use the following criteria and guidelines when making your Character. LEVEL: 5th ABILITY SCORES: Point Buy or Standard Array (your choice). BACKGROUND: Player’s Handbook 2024/2025 SPECIES: Player’s Handbook 2024/2025 CLASS: Player’s Handbook 2024/2025; 2025 Artificer. SUBCLASS: Player’s Handbook 2024/2025; Unearthed Arcana June 2025: Arcane Subclasses; Unearthed Arcana May 2025: Horror Subclasses; MULTICLASSING: Yes, Multiclassing is permitted. EQUIPMENT: Standard Starting Equipment STARTING GOLD: 150 GP. MAGIC ITEMS (1): (1) Uncommon Item, OR (1) +1 Weapon, OR +1 Arcane Focus, OR +1 Armor (or Shield). 2.) CHARACTER BONDS (NPCs): These are Non-Player Characters who are important to your PC. BEST FRIEND: Whom and why? What is the story? GREATEST / FIRST LOVE: Whom and why? Was/is the love requited? What is the story? GREATEST MENTOR / TEACHER: Whom and why? What did you learn from them? GREATEST RIVAL: Whom and why? Is it a friendly rivalry or are you enemies? What’s the story? 3.)CHARACTER BONDS (PCs): These are connections you have with one (or more) of the other Party members. We will work these out at Session 0. Things to consider: HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR FELLOW PCS? HOW LONG HAVE YOU KNOWN YOUR FELLOW PCS? DO YOU ADMIRE ANY (OR ALL) OF YOUR FELLOW PCS? 4.) SECRETS (Personal): These are secret things your PC feels would ruin their life and reputation if anyone found out. Pick 3 or more. Please work these out and share them with me privately. Some suggestions: WORST THING YOU HAVE EVER DONE: GREATEST EMBARRASSMENT: WHAT YOU ARE MOST ASHAMED OF: GUILTY PLEASURE: SECRET LOVE: SECRET HATRED:

Preparing for the session

* Discord Account to access Game Server for gameplay, communication, handouts, et cetera. * D & D Beyond for Character generation, leveling up, and tracking; AND for MAPS VTT and combat in-game.

What Timothy McCown Reynolds brings to the table

All players will have access to 2024/2025 D&D 5e game resources via my D&D Beyond Master Tier Subscription. HOW SESSIONS RUN: * All our Sessions begin with a Player check-in on everyone’s general well-being, how their day is going, et cetera, so everyone can connect a bit together. * We follow this with a recap of the prior Session, ideally recounted by one (or more) of the Players. * We follow this with a Character check-in, so all Players get a sense of how each Character is feeling relative to the action up to this point in our story. This allows the PC’s inner life to have a voice before we get into our Session. * We pick up where we left off in the prior Session’s action, and venture deeper into our story together until the end of the Session. * We will take Bio-breaks as needed, and have a regular break about halfway through each Session. * If an issue comes up requiring a Safety Tool, we will utilize that tool to move through the issue and carry on with gameplay once the issue is resolved. * The Three Pillars of Gameplay will be in use : Exploration, Roleplay, and Combat. NPCS: I am an Actor and our NPCs will have character, voice, dialect, and emotional truth (when appropriate). COMBAT: Our combat will be dynamic and deadly, as appropriate to each adversary the PCs contend with. RULES AS WRITTEN (RAW) / RULE OF COOL: Our Rules as Written create a structure wherein we can be flexible when an opportunity for Rule of Cool presents itself. My basic approach is: “You can certainly try.” Let the dice decide.

Homebrew rules

* CRITICAL HIT (Crit) RULE: On a Natural 20 (or other Class-specific Critical Hit rules) in combat, automatic success and roll double on all damage dice: The first set is maxed; roll the second set as usual. * CRITICAL FAIL (Fumble) RULE: On a Natural 1 in combat, automatic failure and roll on Homebrew Fumble Table (provided at Session 0). * PLAYER V PLAYER (PVP): No PVP at our Table. All PCs are allies working together toward the same goals, despite their differences.

How Timothy McCown Reynolds creates a safe table

PRE-GAME SESSION: Luxton Technique Discussion / Lines & Veils In our Session 0, we will create a Lines and Veils document for the Table based upon our use of the Luxton Technique to identify any possible triggers, hard line topics, and “Fade to Black” veil topics. IN-GAME: Breaks: We will break approximately halfway through each Session. X, N, O cards: These will be messaged to me directly. AFTER SESSION: Debriefing: We will debrief as needed post-session, and incorporate some measure of this with each Character check-in at the top of the subsequent Game Session.