Drakkenheim: The Contaminated City.

Creating your character

Character Creation. 1.- Materials and Resources: Here is a list of all of the Official Books that have already been approved to be used: Player's Handbook (2014) Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide Xanathar's Guide to Everything Tasha's Cauldron of Everything Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft Fizban's Treasury of Dragons Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants Material from other books, 3rd party, Homebrew, Unearth Arcana, etc. can be considered for character creation, but it needs to be reviewed and approved beforehand by the DM (That’s me), this applies to the 2024 Rule Set too. 2.- Races / Species: There are only 2 rules to keep in mind when choosing a Race / Species: No Races with “permanent” Flying Speed: Stuff like Aarakocras, Owlins, Winged Tieflings, etc. are out. Races with limited flying speed, like Aasimar Radiant Soul, are okay, although some options might need DM’s approval. No Races that give you a free feat at level 1: Stuff like Variant Human, and Tasha’s Costume Lineage are out, this also applies to homebrew and UA races. 3.- Stats: There are going to be 2 options for choosing stats (Choose one): Normal Point Buy. Using Point Buy Rules, you can boost one of your stats to 16 unlike the usual limit of 15, but if you do, at the end of Character Creation your Character must have a 6 or a 7 in one of their stats, or an 8 or a 9 on 2 separate stats. (If you need clarification feel free to ask me directly or using the Questions Channel). If you need help with calculating your stats, I use this website to make things easier: https://chicken-dinner.com/5e/5e-point-buy.html 4.- Alignment: I personally like to use alignment as a way to dictate how a character should act and what they should do because characters are dynamic and change. However, I do have one rule that ties in with alignment: No Evil Characters, I understand that an evil character can work on a game and make interesting moments, but since we are playing with mostly strangers here, we don’t know about each others boundaries, and evil characters tend to push that line that without knowing can make the game less enjoyable. The only way I would allow an Evil Character is if the following conditions are met: You show that you have enough experience to play one. You discuss your idea openly (and without hiding anything) with the rest of the group. And if the rest of the group agrees with the character idea. 5.- Starting Gold and Equipment: You can choose between Rolling for Gold or Picking from your Starting Equipment list. You can’t do both. 6.- Level 1 Free Feat: What says on the tin and the reason why I don’t accept races that give you a Free Feat at level 1. 7.- Multi Classing: Totally okay, as long as you follow the Character Creation Rules, and as long as you have the prerequisites to do so. For more details on Character Creation check the House Rules Document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xb8vst9B4W1mM-mH5fgOBUi_OhYC87IczhMZvwVnoJo/edit?usp=sharing

Preparing for the session

Materials you will need: 1.- A decent head set or decent microphone, nothing fancy, just good enough so that other players can hear you clearly and vice versa. 2.- Roll 20 account. 3.- Discord account. (Here is where most communication will take place using a server with the rest of the group). 4.- * If you are using D&D Beyond to manage your character sheet, you need to download the extension that allows rolls that were made on D&D Beyond to appear on Roll 20. 5.- If you are not familiar with the setting of Drakkenheim I recommend giving this document a read, it details important stuff about the setting without the need for the book to get an idea on how the world works: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1O2kcFeAUJN8yqoNnpgaEhiecKV_FTz0Yy63n3oeBLfI/edit?usp=sharing 6.- In addition to requesting to join on SPG I would like it if you can fill the Player Application Format below, and send it to me either as a direct message here on SPG or to my Discord: ( thatcharlydm ) Player Application Format: 1.- Username: (aka, the name you want me and players to refer to you as it can be your character name and it doesn’t have to be your real name). 2.- Pronouns: (If there is any preference on how you would like to be addressed). 3.- Days and times available to you: (considering that most session will last 3 hours or so, let me know what days and what schedules work for you. This is done so that we can have a full group faster if there is enough flexibility, if there isn't that is totally fine as well). 4.- Discord: (To add you, since the game will be using a discord server). 5.- TTRPG Experience: (Basically how long have you been playing TTRPGs and some of the systems you have played if you want). 6.- What is your favorite aspect of the game: (RP, Combat, Puzzles? If you want you can expand on the question to let me know what specifically you like about that aspect, honestly the more detailed the better because it gives me a better idea of what your preferences are for the game). 7.- Name 1 to 3 things you think GMs do that make their games better. 8.- Name 1 to 3 things GMs do that can ruin a game for you. 9.- Any potential trigger that the group needs to be aware of to avoid during the game? 10.- What about this game interested you in wanting to join?

What Charly brings to the table

Game Length: 3 hours. I feel like this strikes a good balance between having enough time to do RP, combat, and goof around, while not making it too time-consuming, and if possible I usually offer a 5 to 10-minute break in between. Party Size: My sweet spot is usually 4 or 5 players in a group, however, I have run games with groups of 2 players to 6 players (6 being my limit). So I am okay with running a game with only 2 players, it sometimes allows for more personal and deep experiences. Having 6 players in a group gives the benefit that if multiple people can't make it to a session, we still have enough people in a group to play. To that end, if the group finds itself with only 2 players, I will ask if the players present would like to continue since I have no issue running a game like that, and if the group reaches 5 people, I would ask if the group feel like there is a necessity to add a new player to the group. The 3 Pillars of D&D (and TTRPG's). Social Pillar: The social pillar has a strong presence in my games since my favorite aspect of the game is RP. For the most part this is handled through interactions with NPCs, but can also be achieved while interacting with creatures and monsters that don’t necessarily speak. In my games I try to make it so that most NPC have their own agendas and their own way of thinking which can make them cooperate with the party or not, things that are said and done to particular NPCs have consequences, both good or bad, saying or doing the right thing to the right person can give bonuses to rolls, while saying the wrong thing can cause penalties, and trying to know more about certain NPCs can prove beneficial in the long run, knowing their bonds, and flaws can sway a conversation or interaction in the party’s favor if used properly. Combat Pillar: Although it is not my favorite aspect of the game, I still like combat. It's a good enough way to resolve situations of conflict while allowing players to showcase their more fancy and interesting abilities. To add flavor to my encounters I like to do various things that might add a twist to them to make them a little more interesting, like adding some form of environmental hazard of shifts, showcasing the monster's various strengths or interesting abilities and how would they work in conjunction with one another, and adding additional objectives to accomplish as a way of strategizing a switching focus. And just to be honest here, encounters are not going to feature all three of these methods, and sometimes none might be features, but for the majority of encounters, I do like to spend a good portion of my prep time on ways to improve them even if it's just a little to make them more fun. Exploration Pillar: On my end I tend to view exploration as more than just travel time and foraging, In that regard is interacting with the world around the party that doesn’t necessarily involve NPC input.

Homebrew rules

For a more detailed and formatted version of my Homebrew Rules check the link here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T0CU7YykQYFthrcvr6LABFPIsNml2jY_d0TlcujDMAk/edit?usp=sharing

How Charly creates a safe table

Most of the stuff I cover to ensure Player Safety can be found either in my own profile or in my Homebrew Rules Document here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T0CU7YykQYFthrcvr6LABFPIsNml2jY_d0TlcujDMAk/edit?usp=sharing In my application Format I ask for specific triggers players might have,so that I may take them into consideration when planning out the campaign. During Session 0 I will go over the setting, its themes, and tropes to better understand it, and to see if it requires a few changes before the game starts properly. In the discord Server there will be a channel for Stars and Wishes, in case players might want to add an idea or a feature into the game, as long as the rest of the group is ok with it. Finally, I usually like to leave the end of the game to have a chat either in group or personal to discuss any potential problems that might come about before it grows into something bigger.