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Rats in the Cellar | Learn to Play Heart 🏳️🌈 | Roll20Con
Delve into a horrible living nightmare that wants to make all your dreams come true. Learn to play HEART at a friendly, welcoming table!
TYPE
SYSTEM
LANGUAGE
EXPERIENCE
AGE
$15.00
/ Session
Details
Once / Monday - 1:00 AM UTC
Sep 29
Session Duration / 3–4 hours
5 / 5 Seats Filled
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Schedule
Meet your party members
5/5
About the adventure
In this one-shot, you'll play a delver: an obsessive, dangerous person who ventured into a living nightmare in pursuit of a calling that consumes you. The Heart is a megadungeon full of horror, wonder, and unreality; it's alive, it wants to make all your dreams come true, and it's probably going to kill you. Amidst carnivorous buildings, tunnels made of flesh, and ghost trains, your party has a deceptively simple job: take care of some rats in the cellar of a nearby tavern. What strange things will you discover on the way, and what will you sacrifice in pursuit of your calling—your body, your identity, your humanity, or something even more precious? Heart is a story-forward horror game about camaraderie and adventure amidst tragedy, doom, and terror. Expect high narrative stakes, meaningful story beats (that *you* choose!), and collaborative storytelling. Absolutely no rules knowledge required! This is a learn-to-play game. The mechanics of Heart are simple and fast to pick up, and pre-generated characters will be provided. Expect a friendly, welcoming table and a supportive, inclusive environment.
Game style
Dungeon Crawl
Roleplay Heavy
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Theater of the Mind
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(35)
1 year on StartPlaying
86 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Inclusive, Teacher
About me
Hi, I'm Emi! I'm a queer, trans GM who loves running games full of fun and whimsy, and creating spaces for players to have safe and exciting emotional experiences. I love GMing for players who want to be heroes; I love to present problems that can be solved with the power of friendship and doing your best; and I'm not interested in making anyone count their arrows or repair their boots. I also enjoy adapting tropes and archetypes, and seeing how players interact with them in unexpected ways. I'd describe most of my games as having "fairy tale energy." I'm happy to do custom bookings for groups or for duet games, for any of the systems I've listed here on my profile—if you think you might like my style and you have something specific in mind, shoot me a message and I'll give you a quote!
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Players new to HEART should choose one of the pre-generated characters before the session. We'll flesh out characters and build connections between PCs at the beginning of the session, so no further prep necessary! More experienced players are free to build their own character.
So far, we've got a Heartsong-called Witch, an Enlightenment-seeking Junk Mage, and an Adventurous Hound.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Before session, you'll need to: - join my Discord server (requires a free Discord account) - join the Roll20 campaign (requires a free Roll20 account) - fill out a consent checklist - choose a pre-generated character
What GM Emi brings to the table
- Visual aids on Roll20 - A Discord server for in-game and out-of-game chatting and questions - Immersive ambient music and soundscapes - A welcoming, inclusive environment - Plenty of opportunities for horror, hijinks, and creativity
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How GM Emi creates a safe table
I'll send out a quick Google Form before the session to inquire about players' limits and preferences. We'll review these limits (anonymized) at the beginning of the session. During the session, we'll use a traffic light system to indicate if anyone needs to stop or check in. Traffic light signals will be available on Roll20, and everyone is also welcome to use this system verbally—or just say "hey, wait, I'd like to check in about that"! Debriefing will occur after gameplay is over, while we're still on the call. Feedback and player safety is very important to me!
Content warnings
Safety tools used