Dolmenwood Hexploration
Dolmenwood is a weird fairy tale adventure game, conjuring the wonder, horror, whimsy, and strangeness of British folklore.
TYPE
SYSTEM
LEVELS
LANGUAGE
EXPERIENCE
AGE
$20.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Wednesday - 12:00 PM UTC
Session Duration / 2–3 hours
Campaign Length / 10+ Sessions
0 / 7 Seats Filled
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About the adventure
Adventure and peril in fairytale woods. For beginners and experienced gamers alike - your characters will be as new to Dolmenwood as you are: visitors from afar who must learn the lore and traditions of the wood in order to survive. This is old-school gaming, red in tooth and claw! A complete sandbox, which will consist of at least ten sessions, possibly more if the game is going well…
Game style
Hexcrawl / Exploration
Theater of the Mind
Sandbox / Open World
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(4)
Less than a year on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: Creativity, Storytelling, Knows the Rules
About me
My primary goal is to make sure everyone is having a great time while they game. I've been playing RPGs since 1979 and GMing since 1982, when I was a mere 10 years old. Hopefully, I've come a long way since then. Trained as a lawyer, then as an actor, and finally as a teacher, so I have a collection of skills that are ideal for a GM: a sense of fairness, a love of shared storytelling and the ability to guide gamers of all levels of experience through whatever system we have decided upon. Used to be my priority was narrative games with an overarching plotline, but lately I've returned to my roots - Old School - with a newfound respect for made those early systems tick. My games will be player-driven and entertainingly lethal. Probably. (I mean, you never know your luck!)
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Character creation will be entirely randomised. You will not need to refer to books, but you can if you like: a copy of the Dolmenwood Player’s Book would be handy but not essential.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
No prep is necessary at all. Before the game starts, I will send out invites to Forge/Foundry and Google Meet.
What Gideon Pepys brings to the table
The beautiful and expansive world of Dolmenwood will be brought to life in a game of shared storytelling. I use as few of the ‘bells and whistles’ afforded by modern vtts as I can. The focus is on imagination, which can be limited by preset sounds and images. The world will come to life in our minds, as it would in Dave Arneson’s basement in the early 70s. Our first session will involve character generation and first steps in the game world. I will use character voices where appropriate, but players need not feel compelled to do so. I would not even say it is preferred or encouraged. It is entirely up to you. Your verbal responses can be in character or narrated third person. The campaign will be roleplay and exploration focused. Combat in old school gaming is to be avoided where possible and when it does occur it is quick and lethal. As a group, you will always want to ensure that if a fight does happen, it happens on your terms! Unlike some more modern iterations of the game, your characters are not super-powered to start off with, and do not have a raft of abilities listed on their character sheet. You are therefore free to approach problems as a real person might do, using common sense, ingenuity and imagination. OSE does not have granular rules that cover every eventuality. A lot of decision-making is left to the GM. During a session, I will have to make a lot of rulings on the fly. This is part of the fun and flexibility of the system. Feel free to raise any issues you have in the moment, as there may be something I have overlooked. Your thoughts are welcome and may influence the outcome. However, it may be that the initial ruling stands. The most important thing is to keep the game moving. We can solve any disagreements once the session it over.
Homebrew rules
I use injury tables, not 'dead at 0 hp' (although serious injury can result in death and/or permanent negative effects on your character).
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Webcam
Platforms used
Safety
How Gideon Pepys creates a safe table
Lines and veils; messaged X, N & Os.
Content warnings
Safety tools used