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The Hollowlands: Fantasy sandbox adventure [Christian friendly]
The Hollowlands promises gold & glory, whether striking out across the perilous plains of the Overhollow or delving the depths of the Underhollow.
TYPE
LEVELS
LANGUAGE
EXPERIENCE
AGE
$15.00
/ Session
Details
Bi-weekly / Friday - 1:30 AM UTC
Session Duration / 2–3 hours
Campaign Length / 5–30 Sessions
0 / 6 Seats Filled
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About the adventure
As a proud Christian GM, many of the themes of The Hollowlands are inspired by traditional high fantasy tropes that relate to the Christian traditional view of good vs evil, though the world is not religious, by any means. As such, The Hollowlands are for everyone, of all creeds, orientations, persuasions etc. All are welcome! New adventurers attempting to prove themselves. Old adventures coming out of retirement for one last hurrah. And every type of folk too! All are alike to The Hollowlands. For The Hollowlands care not for the trifles of people. They have but one criteria: Come all and suffer. Here you will persist in prestige or succumb silence. The Hollowlands is West Marches-style, open-world, sandbox populated with adventure sites, secrets, creatures (both familiar and foreign), and fellow adventurers (some friendly, others.. not so much). And other things too. Things whispered in the shadows of street corners and written on forbidden texts, tucked away in darkened alcoves. And all of it waits for you, unmapped, unexplored, and unforgiving. This fantasy setting has all the trappings of vintage high fantasy. A land unapologetically inspired by medieval Europe, with wizened mentors, hapless heroes, good vs evil, and, yes, the classic class tropes. The art style is archetypal, bright, and pastoral, with a naive optimism, in spite of world-ending threats. It is an earnest setting, high-stakes, and yes, perhaps a little melodramatic. With nearly a decade of crafting and writing to help populate it, The Hollowlands offers you an immersive escapism rarely seen these days: High Fantasy, newly-created in a post-modern era. As a West Marches style campaign, this world is built such that players can come and go as they please. Parties can be made up of any number of people from week to week. If you need to skip, no worries! If your character dies, make a new one! In fact, make two characters and decide which one makes the most sense from week to week, depending on your allies. To make this easier, we use Shadowdark classes and rules (which is simply D&D light or an OSR-style of D&D). If you haven't played Shadowdark, rest easy. It's just D&D but fewer things to remember and simpler character sheets.
Game style
Hexcrawl / Exploration
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Sandbox / Open World
West Marches
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
4.8
(4)
Less than a year on StartPlaying
3 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Rule of Cool, Inclusive
About me
I've been GMing and playing TTRPGs for over 30 years. I'm a system connoisseur and fluent in the D&D-based, D20 classics. But I'm also always diving into the latest, including playtests like the Cosmere RPG and Daggerheart. Lately, I’ve been running Shadowdark and Nimble with friends. And I enjoy introducing younger players to the hobby through Fate Accelerated, and Tales From the Loop with my kids and their friends.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
I will help you make a Hollowlands-ready character before your first session. If it's your first session, you'll get extra attention your first week to make sure you love your character and that you're brought up to speed.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
We will use Discord to communicate.
What Dystopiapathy brings to the table
The Hollowlands is a narrative feast, but one which is incomplete without your story. As a novelist, my favorite stories are NOT the ones I've written. They are the messy ones, created in dimly lit kitchens or basements (real or digital) with a group of friends, creative people, who care enough to put their collective perspectives and ideas into this cauldron called role playing (along with a healthy dose of random) and then sit back and watch, delighted by what comes bubbling to the surface. At my table, storytelling comes first, above all. It is the ultimate outcome, the ultimate good. And keeping the story first is the ultimate rule of cool. There may be times in which rules must bend for the story's sake (though these will be rare). After story, if there is a runner up for most important, then that thing would be the party. Your character belongs to the party and the party belongs to your character. They are bound together and, as such, characters (regardless of background, alignment, and ultimate goal) must have motivations which narratively stitch them together with the rest of the party. Else, why would they travel together? Ergo, players must be flexible and creative as they spin the threads of their narrative in a way that binds the party together. It's unlikely, for instance, that lone wolfs, bullies, or psychopathically evil characters will work well in a party trapped in a high fantasy struggle for good against evil. That does NOT mean characters should be homogenous. On the contrary, it is the contrast between characters which makes storytelling so rich! Raistlin and Caramon. Conan and Red Sonja. Drizzt and Catie-Brie. Royce and Hadrian. Anthony Crowley and Aziraphale. Legolas and Gimli. These are pairs of sharply contrasting characters who could not possibly be more different, but who are united in purpose. And since they are bound together and yet they contrast, they are interesting! Interesting in a way in which a homogenous pair, even if equally bound, simply would not. Finally, I keep a family-friendly table. Occasional swears are fine. But this isn't the place for sexual content or overly gratuitous violence.
Homebrew rules
We use basic Shadowdark rules with only a few modifications. Namely: * Start every session with one luck token * Good storytelling MIGHT restore a spent luck token * Level 1 characters get max health dice. Every level after it is rolled. And a few others (but those would be spoilers).
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Dystopiapathy creates a safe table
Direct message me any time about any concerns! My response shall be swift, and you will find an empathetic ear and compassionate advocate. And in a West Marches style campaign like this, Open Door is certainly the policy (take a break any time, for any reason).
Content warnings
Safety tools used