Expanded Icespire Solo/Duet Play by Post (PbP) Beginner Friendly

Creating your character

Character creation can be a wonderful adventure in itself, or it can be a daunting task that paralyzes a new player. If it's fun for you, go ahead and use DnDBeyond to create a character from scratch. Let me know what you're hoping for, and I'll help you craft a character that's a good match for the adventure you're facing. For some people, dreaming up the perfect character is just as fun as actually playing the game. On the other hand, most people on startplaying.games want to Start-Playing-the-Game. For them, and especially for beginners, I strongly recommend choosing from the handful of premade characters that I provide in the 'Starting-Characters' channel on discord. From brawlers or rogues, to warriors or spellcasters: choose the one that says to you, "Yes, I will love pretending to be this character!" If you want to customize it a bit, that's great. Also, since this is typically a one-player adventure, you will have an animal companion on your journey. Again, read through the list, and if you see a character/companion combination that looks fun, go with that. (If you are playing in a 'Duet' with a partner, rather than playing a solo campaign, then the two players will provide all the social interaction you need, and you will not have an animal companion) Tell me your choices, along with your names and pronouns, and we'll put together a quick back-story and dive right into the adventure! Your character starts at level 1 for the first intro scene, and then jumps to level 2 as soon as you reach Phandalin. You rise in power and capability through the campaign to end at about level 7. Experienced players can skip ahead and start at a higher level. Point-buy or standard-array work well for character creation. By the way, neither your character nor your companion may have Evil or Chaotic alignments. You're not invading Phandalin; you're saving it. Note: players sometimes get stuck trying to create the "perfect" character: one that is the mightiest, cleverest, and most epically heroic. Don't! D&D is not an exercise in mathematical optimization; it's an opportunity to roleplay an exciting adventure. The *perfect* character is the one that is the most FUN for you to play. It's often more fun to play the underdog, or at least the character with an interesting balance of strengths and weaknesses. Maybe your character is incredibly strong, but not very bright . . . but your animal companion is extremely clever and perceptive. Or vice versa. That can be a recipe for great storytelling, and THAT is what makes for a memorable D&D experience.

Preparing for the session

This adventure is designed specifically for Play-by-Post for a single player or a duet (two close friends or relatives). Maybe you're a D&D beginner; maybe a Solo-Campaign beginner; maybe an online-D&D beginner; or maybe you've just been away from the game for a while. Every effort has been made to streamline and simplify both the startup process and the playing experience. Since the game is not LIVE, and since there are no other random players, there is no need for a virtual tabletop (VTT). The entire game takes place within Discord. You do not need to manage DnDBeyond or Roll20 or Foundry or Fantasy Grounds or any other platform. If you're an experienced player who is already comfortable with their own gaming platform, you may certainly continue to use it for managing your character, but that is absolutely not necessary for the campaign.

What QuietDynamo brings to the table

I provide unique NPCs and villains that think just as deeply and act just as cleverly as you do. No mindless "orc#7" in this campaign. I've also created engaging artwork for every character and every setting. We use customized tactical maps. My games are lively and fast-paced with the story moving forward multiple times per day.

Homebrew rules

This campaign was originally built on the 2014 version of D&D 5E. If you're a fan of the 2024 version and you have a specific element that you want included, let me know - we can probably make that happen. Since this is primarily a solo campaign, the rules related to character death borrow heavily from the Nimble platform -- see the discord channel for details on this and other custom rules. Generally, crafting an enjoyable story always trumps following the rules as written.

How QuietDynamo creates a safe table

Honestly, the solo campaign format makes for a much safer social playing environment! IceSpire is not a particularly dark campaign, and we can easily adjust lines and veils to avoid any sensitive areas. There is no sexual violence in this campaign. No sexual intimacy either - there's plenty of that available in solo games with other GMs, but nobody you encounter in Phandalin will be interested in engaging with you in that way. You may encounter bandits that use racial slurs to goad your character into unwise action. A bandit might call a dwarf a 'half-sized, rock eating, tunnel rat'. A drow might be a 'pale haired dirt-skin'. Half-elves, half-orcs, and dragonborn would be called halfbreeds and mutts. I realize that referring to skin color, height, or ancestry is problematic in real life. Racial slurs will only be uttered by evil-aligned characters within the campaign. Let me know if you prefer a cleaner version - it's no problem. The campaign does not describe gore that is gratuitous. Gore in the campaign is intentionally restricted to the most violent and ferocious characters you encounter, and even then, only when they are trying to be intimidating. The dragon will scatter a bunch of orcs, for example, by biting one orc in half while grabbing a second orc and smashing them against the ground. Strategically, this means the dragon doesn't have to actually fight all the orcs, provided they can be ruthless and fierce enough that the other orcs all flee. That kind of violence is rare in the campaign and restricted to situations that make sense in terms of character and plot. Again, let me know if you prefer a cleaner version - it's no problem. The content warnings mention character death and pet death. I truly hope that doesn't happen, since that means you or your companion died. If it does though, we can always roll up a new character and find a way to continue the adventure.