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Learn to Play Dungeons & Dragons
Learn to play D&D with a fun, simple rescue mission from an official adventure book! Find and invade a goblin hideout to save your abducted employer!
$20.00
/ Session
Details
Once / Friday - 5:00 PM UTC
Jan 16
Session Duration / 2 hours
5 / 6 Seats Filled
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Meet your party members
5/6
About the adventure
Welcome, friends! My name is Ace and I would love to help guide you into the world of Dungeons and Dragons with this introductory adventure! Over the course of this session, you will roleplay with a variety of characters all played by me doing silly voices, you will watch your characters move across detailed battle maps to take on enemies, and, most importantly, you will improve your knowledge of D&D and your confidence to continue playing. This one-shot will focus on all three of the fundamental aspects of D&D: roleplay, exploration, and combat. Below is an introduction to the narrative that this session will focus on: “On the dusty road between the great city of Neverwinter and a small mining town called Phandalin, our heroes find themselves in an unlikely situation. Yesterday, while on a simple delivery mission, these motley new adventurers suddenly heard the snapping of bow strings and felt the rush of arrows flying past their faces. As goblins descended upon them from all directions, these heroes were wary and steadfast and won the day…but it was what they found in the aftermath that put them in their current predicament: the personal effects of one Gundren Rockseeker, the very man who employed them on this delivery mission. It seems he too was a recent victim of this particular band of goblins and the evidence indicates that he was taken prisoner. In order to finish their original mission and get paid what they were promised, your characters must now take on a new one: find the hideout of these goblin bandits and rescue Gundren before it’s too late.” This adventure is based on the beginning of an official D&D campaign that is specifically designed for new and beginner players. Thus you will get to experience what is essentially the beginning of an iconic D&D campaign. Your characters will be dropped directly into the middle of this quest with a specific goal: rescue their captured employer. How your characters accomplish this is entirely up to you, but I will help answer questions about your options and tell you what mechanics (meaning, D&D rules) are at your disposal to accomplish your goals. You will play as pre-made, level 1 characters. We will play via Zoom video chat where I will screenshare with you to show you reference pictures, character art, and battle maps as well as play background music/ambience. My goal is to make this as fun and easy as possible while still giving you a genuine taste of what playing D&D is typically like. I want you to have a positive experience with this game and continue playing so you can create some of the amazing memories that all long-time D&D players have.
Game style
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(102)
4 years on StartPlaying
272 games hosted
Highly rated for: Teacher, Inclusive, Creativity
Average response time: 1 hour
Response rate: 100%
About me
Welcome, friends! My name is Ace. I am an experienced, professional game master (or GM, for short). I primarily run games for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition (D&D 5e). I would love to run a game for you! I have been playing D&D since 2013, running games (GMing) since 2016, and doing so professionally since 2020. Since I started GMing professionally, I have consistently been running one to four weekly campaigns at a time. In that time, I have also taught dozens of people to play D&D from scratch. I have livestreamed the games I run, edited/produced videos of them for my youtube channel, and made educational videos about D&D. I believe D&D can be for everyone and that there is a version of it that everyone can enjoy. That’s why I love teaching people about the game and introducing it to those that might not have experienced it otherwise. In that interest, I want everyone that plays in one of my games to be comfortable, have a good time, and never feel ostracized for lack of experience (or any other reason). Whether or not you choose to play in one of the games that I run, what’s most important to me is that you get to play and have a great time doing so! Some of my favorite D&D content is Dimension 20, The Adventure Zone, NADDPod, Dungeons and Daddies, Harmonquest, and the Vox Machina animated series. I’m a huge fan of Brennan Lee Mulligan’s GM style and have learned a lot from watching him play and listening to him talk about the game. Outside of D&D, some of my biggest interests are cooking, musical theatre, film/television, improv comedy, and games. A few of my all-time favorite games are: Magic the Gathering, Root, Wingspan, Catan, Blood Bowl 2, Kingdom Hearts, and Scrabble. If you're interested in playing in a game that I run or if I can be of assistance in your D&D journey, don't hesitate to reach out.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
I will provide pre-made character sheets for you to choose from after you sign up! Please try to choose one and review it before the session so that we can maximize our playing time. In order to choose a character and roll dice, you’ll first need an account on DnDBeyond.com (or DDB for short) if you don’t already have one. It’s free to make an account and there are various methods to do so. Here is a link to sign up for an account: https://www.dndbeyond.com/create-account Once you have signed up for the adventure and are logged into your DDB account, go to the “Prep Materials” section of the adventure on SPG. This section will have all of the necessary links and info you’ll need. One of those links will be to a DDB campaign. When you click on this link it will take you to the “Join a Campaign” page. You will see the name of my campaign (Ace’s One-shots) as well as a list of available characters to choose from! Simply select one (so that it is highlighted), then scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Join with this character”. After that, just explore your character sheet at your leisure and think of a name for them until it’s time for the session! If you'd like to, you can also make your own level one character sheet. However, you must submit it to me at least 1 hour in advance for review/approval, you must make the character sheet in my DDB campaign, and you must follow the instructions in the google doc below. I do not recommend new/beginner players make character sheets without hands-on guidance, but if you're confident and you want to, you are more than welcome! Here is a link to a google doc that I've made with instructions on making your own character sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zV3PDaafE9F9NrxUnLsIg_y4d9oi5F7Krwpu0sGfeV4/edit?tab=t.0 Please message me if you have trouble or any questions!
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Prior to the game, each player should have the following: -A character in my DnDBeyond.com campaign that they have claimed and reviewed. -Submitted their safety cards via the Demiplane.com link I provide. -A computer. -A reliable internet connection. -Functional headphones, a microphone, and (ideally, but not required) a camera all connected to your computer and ready to use. -The Zoom app downloaded and ready to use on their computer. All links will be provided in the “Prep Materials” section of the adventure. If you have the option, I recommend using an external microphone (such as from a pair of headphones) rather than the built-in microphone on your computer/laptop because the audio quality is usually much better, which makes it easier for everyone to communicate. Please get in touch if you have any questions! You can message me on SPG, on discord (acethegm), or email me (AceTheGM@gmail.com).
What Ace the GM brings to the table
For the game, I will provide: -Use of my DnDBeyond campaign with access to all the official 5e sourcebooks (with the exception of any recent publications). -A pro Zoom license for convenient and consistent video call quality. -A professional A/V setup to enhance the listening/viewing experience. -A robust world and story to take part in. -A play style driven by character choices, collaborative storytelling, and improv comedy. -Detailed, custom-made maps (where applicable) made and displayed in Photoshop. -Voice acting of various unique characters. -Background music, ambience, and sound effects to set the mood and help immerse you in the story. -Years of experience as a professional Game Master. -An inclusive and welcoming attitude 😀
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Ace the GM creates a safe table
When we meet for the first time, we will start by introducing ourselves, reviewing all safety tools, and reviewing basic house rules/etiquette. For this session, we will primarily use the Deck of Player Safety and X/N/O cards. When you sign up for the adventure, under the “prep materials” section of the adventure, you will find a link to demiplane.com. When you click on that link, you will see an array of cards that each have “hotbutton” topics or game elements on them. This is the deck of player safety. Prior to the session, please use this tool to select any topics that would cause you distress if they came up during the game and click submit. They will be submitted to me anonymously and I will read them aloud at the start of the session so we all know what to avoid. For the X/N/O cards, I ask that everyone hold up their arms or hands on camera as the X/N/O symbols. If that does not work for anyone, we can easily find another method.
Content warnings
Safety tools used