Halcyon City Nights: The Mist-Walkers

Creating your character

I'm highly flexible about character creation and excited to work with you at a free session 0 to build characters that are compelling and satisfying to play over the long term in this campaign. We will build characters using any formally released D&D 5e published materials. We can build either 5e (2012) or 5e (2024) player characters, making that decision as a group to avoid any inconsistencies and help me balance and adjust the module's encounters accordingly. Homebrew content can be allowed, pending DM approval. I think finding something that captures the vibe you're looking for is great, and I just want to make sure we find a way to do it that allows the game systems to provide the right balance of challenge and risk that makes the game rewarding and fun to play. Mechanically, we'll build characters to start at level 3, using either rolled ability scores at our session 0 or the standard array. Narratively, it's best to build a character with some connection to the setting and its locales or features. Here are some suggestions to get your creative juices flowing: - The grizzled detective haunted by regrets - The sultry songstress with hidden secrets - The shadowy hunter who skulks the rooftops - The brilliant con looking to pull one last, greatest job - The slick gun/spell slinger with the world's fastest hands - and tongue - The wild one on first-foray from the Green, alone and afraid in a world of concrete and stone - The righteous warrior desperately keeping the faith in a lawless and dark place Whatever your character’s origins, however, our story starts in the same place. It’s up to you to decide your character’s answers to the following two prompts: 1. You’ve answered a job offer you normally would have refused: to do some undisclosed job for the Dime Lions. If Pick Rollins wants it done, then it’s probably ugly. So why have you come to ‘The Caelish Princess’ - the casino Rollins runs his operation out of - against your better judgement? 2. You know one of the other questionable characters who’ve come to the Caelish Princess for the job. How do you know them, and what piece of information are you hoping they never learn?

Preparing for the session

My preference would be to run this game using the Roll20 virtual tabletop, and using Discord for video chat and game talk, so you will need accounts for both of those platforms. However, I am flexible if the group has alternate preferences that we can sort out together. The only "need" is a way for us to all talk together.

What Onerous Guac brings to the table

My GMing philosophy: The role of the Game Master is to host and facilitate a fun, engaging story driven by the player characters' choices. You are the heroes whose goals, bonds and motivations drive the action of the story. I am here to react to you, providing enough structure to keep it moving and engaging and safe and fun for everyone at the table. To whit, I believe in: - Characterful, complex NPCs, with voices, personalities and goals (because fun supporting characters have those things) - Vivid descriptions, ambient music, sound effects (because sensory details make the world come alive) - Challenging combats with real risk of death (because fighting is dangerous) - Thoughtful flexibility around the game's systems and structures (because "yes, but" is almost always a more interesting answer to the "can I do this?" question than "no". The rules are here to channel a good story, not to obstruct the cool you're trying to find.) - Supportive, non-judgmental player coaching (because role-playing is a skill that it takes practice to learn and get better at)

Homebrew rules

A number of standard 'homebrew rules' I like to use at table (whose relevance is depending on if we're playing 2014 or 2024 D&D): - the 'Matt Mercer' health potion (Bonus Action for rolled HP, Action for max HP)

How Onerous Guac creates a safe table

During booking I'll have my standard Lines and Veils doc made available to you so you can take a look at the list. I've also fleshed out a detailed "content warning" list forthis game setting as-designed here in the game description so you can make safe, informed decisions about what kind of game you want to play. However, every table running the game gets a curated experience and many of these points are negotiable if they are on your lines or veils lists. Especially for games with darker themes AND especially when we're playing with new soon-to-be-friends, it's best to have fulsome conversations 'above table' at Session 0 and frequent check-ins at which we identify where our lines and veils are and establish some ground rules. At our Session 0, we'll have a full conversation about all these trouble spots. Once they're there, we'll have our list open and accessible to the group digitally (probably in a public Doc or pinned post on the game Discord). After Session 0, I'm a firm believer in the "Open Door" policy as well as Open Comms for any player to communicate with me directly about the game and non-judgmentally be heard out. My commitment to you: the "integrity" of an adventure plan is infinitely less important to me than your comfort and safety at the table. Play is dependent on safety. Any GM allowing you to feel uncomfortable without earnest correction of that issue is failing at the first and most important task of the role.