Image by James Harris (Me!)
A Plot in Pearlcove | Beginner-Friendly Oceanic One-Shot 🌊🐟
A dark scheme brews in a beautiful seaside city, threatening their holy festival. Dive into the lore of the Deeplings and unveil an eldritch mystery!
$25.00
/ Session
Details
Once / Saturday - 9:30 PM UTC
Nov 8
Session Duration / 3–4 hours
1 / 6 Seats Filled
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About the adventure
Do you enjoy thematically-rich worlds for your D&D game? Looking for something new, or perhaps hoping to jump into D&D for the very first time? Join our table for an aquatic one-shot of mystery, magic, and eldritch secrets in the holy city of Pearlcove! 🌊PLOT Every 22 years, the alabaster city of the Deeplings, Pearlcove, hosts the great festival of Edrial's Crux! Tonight is the performance of the captivating Siren of Yyth -- but something is afoot that threatens not only to ruin the long-awaited festival, but perhaps much, much greater dangers... 🌊ADVENTURE Join the revelries of a sunny seaside festival, follow the trail of an arcane plot, and brave an old-school dungeon in this beginner-friendly one-shot. Rebuilt from my first-ever homebrew adventure, the module is designed to be a great environment for learning the ropes of Fifth Edition while also still being fun for any skill level! 🌊FEATURES Players will have the chance to play as one of the colorful Deeplings, a fishlike people who boast many shapes and evolutionary abilities. You will be free to keep the species PDF, featuring original character art by yours truly! Additionally, the one-shot is mutative, featuring a few different "schemes" to present a new challenge even if you've joined us before. The threads of time hold many secrets...
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5 years on StartPlaying
1 game hosted
Highly rated for: Inclusive, Creativity, World Builder
Average response time: 1 hour
Response rate: 100%
About me
Hey, y'all, I'm James -- ArkhamHermit on most platforms. Born in chilly Alaska and living in the Utah red rocks, I played my first catastrophic game of D&D(3.5e) in my junior year of high school and was instantly hooked. With over ten years as a GM and with decades of experience in theatre and improv, my goal is to create immersive tales with your characters at the center. I put a heavy focus on creating a colorful, living world to serve as backdrop to your decisions and interactions. But don't get too comfy! Though I'm an RP aficionado, I also love putting interesting obstacles in the party's way, often leading to explosive combat (mapped and unmapped) where your powers of strategy will be challenged and I'll make sure every strike gets the dynamic and hard-hitting description it deserves. I have a penchant for punchy KOs. Most important to me is that my players get to enjoy their characters to the fullest. Even in a quick one-shot, I will do my best to take each character's backstory, motivations, and unique quirks into account whenever possible. This story belongs to you. And as an avid and meticulous homebrewer, I'm happy to make almost any player content possible in our game. I have the mechanical know-how to back it all up, and I'm more than happy to take the time necessary to help players understand every aspect of the rules as well! We're all in this together. If deep stories loaded with personality, rule of cool, rewarding action, rich aesthetic, and a personal touch are what you seek, then my table is for you.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
This is for a one-shot, so the process will be slightly more streamlined. You can make your character in advance on whatever platform you prefer for tracking, including just tracking on a PDF (I can provide PDFs on request if needed). This should be done according to the following parameters: 🔥2024 Ruleset (if you want to use 2014 let me know) 🌊Level 3 🪨Amended Ability Array (16, 14, 13, 12, 10, 9) or Point Buy (29 points, maximum pre-bonus score 16). 🌪️At least a paragraph of character backstory. 🐟Playing the featured Deepling species is recommended for this adventure, but not mandatory. You can email me the PDF or share the link to the digital character sheet so I can check it. Alternatively, you can get in touch with me here or on Discord to discuss character building! I love helping people build characters in a hands-on way, even for short games. Player Content: You can use any origin/class/subclass from an official publication, as well as Matt Mercer's Blood Hunter. I can provide info for any official option, so feel free to contact me! If you want to use an unofficial homebrew player option, contact me directly. I'm pretty flexible but I will want to check that the content isn't grossly imbalanced or tone-breaking.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
🔥Download the Zoom desktop client here: https://us05web.zoom.us/download#client_4meeting (This is where we currently host our games! Feel free to play with video on or off.) 🌊Join the Lost Fables Discord server for game info and to be a part of our growing community! 🪨Create a Roll20 account and keep an eye out for the game link in our correspondence so you can view and interact with our VTT during the game! 🌪️For the game, you'll need to be equipped with a desktop or laptop, a mic (tested beforehand), and a webcam if you plan to show us your lovely face. Also ensure you have dice available if you prefer to roll in realspace! If you have questions, please feel free to contact James via DM here or on Discord!
What James Harris (Lost Fables) brings to the table
I come equipped with: 🎲10 years' GMing proficiency. 🎲10+ years of Improv training 🎲20 years' acting experience 🎲A love of even the most granular questions -- I am here to help! I offer an immersive table experience with: 🔸a lifelike world! 🔹memorable characters! 🔸hard-hitting combat with dynamic objectives! 🔹ambient music & sound! 🔸custom maps! 🔹custom tokens! 🔸chill home game vibe! Game content (varies by game): 🌊Access to a homebrew playable species, Deeplings, with illustration! 🌊A primer for my homebrew setting, Aralex, for you to optionally use when crafting a backstory.
Homebrew rules
💀1. Black Eye: Critical hits add maximum damage ⚠️2. Critical Mishap: Critical misses may incur a small mishap (e.g., dropping your weapon or incurring an Opportunity Attack) 🥤3. Quick Drink: Bonus Action to imbibe a potion (Action to administer to others) 👖4. New Duds: Getting your character something cosmetic (by looting or shopping) can occasionally confer conditional Inspiration. 🔔5. The Bell Tolls: Death Save DC+1 for successive Downed states between rests 🎇6. The Rule of Cool: Creativity, exciting descriptions, and killer one-liners can pay off in huge ways, so be daring!
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Webcam
Platforms used
Safety
How James Harris (Lost Fables) creates a safe table
🟢I'm an open book; questions, comments, and concerns are always welcome. It's vitally important to me that my table is a comfortable and easy space to join. 🏳️🌈I am committed to maintaining a safe and approachable space for marginalized people -- this table is queer-friendly (and queer-operated), anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-ableist, and anti-fascist. 🟢I invite players to share Lines/Veils when they sign up for my games and open a conversation about safety and boundaries in Session Zero. 🟢I maintain a policy of open communication, going over boundaries during Session Zero, and checking in before and after each session. 🟢Open-Door policy. At any time, if you are not comfortable, you can leave without judgment
Content warnings
Safety tools used