The Woes of Whistleton | A 5e Mystery

Creating your character

Key points to prepare: - 2024 rules - Level 1 characters - 1 free feat - Point Buy stats We will create characters during session 0, so as to all be on the same page about the kind of story being told. I'll have some homebrew flavorings for officially published material, but most of character creation will be Rules as Written. We'll also shy away from setting-specific source books like Ravnica or Wildemount.

Preparing for the session

On joining the game, you will have access to the Discord server. From there, you'll find a link to the Foundry VTT we will be using. Foundry does not need you to make an account, but the Forge service it's hosted on will ask you to sign in, which you can do using your Discord account. Using a webcam will not be strictly required, but is highly recommended. Being able to see each other's faces during roleplay goes a long way to conveying the emotion of what a character is saying or doing.

What Aletheia brings to the table

My greatest strengths as a GM are my narration and the prep I put in ahead of time. I do my utmost to set the scene that the players find themselves in, giving them all the details they need to make choices that cascade across the world. Almost just as important as the choices they do make are the ones they don't; when the players don't notice something or choose not to intervene, the world keeps turning. I tend to stick pretty close to rules as written, bending and breaking things as the story demands, but usually shying away from things like homebrew classes and such. The rules help us to tell these stories, and we can re-flavor them as we like, but the limitations they impose are often where the most interesting ideas spawn from. Most of my games are ran in Theater of the Mind, as art is costly and often times limits the imagination. If I upload an image of a tavern, it might help everyone get on the same page about what's in the room, but you'd be less inclined to imagine the warm embrace of the fireplace, the intoxicating smell of ale and fresh bread, and the raucous laughter of laborers at the end of a hard day's work. Combat may not happen as frequently as in some other games, but when it does, it'll be narratively fulfilling and push the story forward. Maps will be used, even if they aren't the prettiest, and combat can get tactical; good party dynamics can be just as compelling as good roleplay, and finding your character's role in the party is as important as it is fun. Ultimately, we're here to tell a story together and have fun doing it. There will be highs and lows, but at the end of the day, I want each player walking away feeling satisfied with each session, ready to see what happens in the next.

Homebrew rules

- Free feat at level 1 - Drinking a potion is a bonus action

How Aletheia creates a safe table

During session 0, we'll talk about the kinds of things that can be expected in this campaign, including content warnings and themes. There will also be a consent checklist to fill out beforehand, the results of which will be compiled and used to tailor the story to the table. For cases where things do come up in session that triggers someone unexpectedly, we'll use the Luxton Technique, which will be more thoroughly discussed during session 0.