Dark Heart of the Woods - Level 2 Draw Steel Adventure

Creating your character

Before the session begins, you should have a Level 2 hero ready to go. You’re free to either create your own using the Draw Steel rules, or use one of the pregenerated characters (PDFs for which I can provide). If you create your own character, you may take a Complication as long as you run it by me first, as some include features that don’t make sense for a few-shot like this. At the start of this adventure, your character will have 0 Victories and their maximum amount of recoveries. In addition, give your character the Title “Local Hero” and select one of the benefits it provides. You also have 250 project points, which you can use to craft various treasures before the events of this adventure. This is on top of any project points you gain from your career. For project sources and prerequisites, you have access to any of the 1st-Echelon Treasures. If you are a returning player from one of my other games, you may use a character from those games of the appropriate level, along with any Treasures or Titles you have acquired. Instead of the prior guidelines, you gain 200 project points in addition to any you have already, and can select one project source and prerequisite to have acquired before the events of this one-shot (1st-Echelon Consumables and Trinkets only). If you are not familiar with any of the rules mentioned above or have questions, I am happy to help with any part of the process (time permitting).

Preparing for the session

You will first need an account for Discord, which will be used for communication and voice call during sessions. It will also have channels with information you can look over but these are in no way required material. When you sign up for this game, you will receive a message/email from StartPlaying with the Discord link and a link to a Google Form I’d like you to fill out.

What Zee brings to the table

I will provide the PDFs of the pregenerated characters should you choose to use them, as mentioned under Character Creation. As far as my style of running the game, I typically try to provide a fairly immersive experience with in-character voices and detailed descriptions, while still keeping things light above table. While normally I ascribe to the rule of cool, I will mostly be adhering to the rules as written since most of the people at the table are still growing accustomed to the rules (myself included). Draw Steel is intended to be fairly tactical, but my goal here is not to overwhelm anyone, much less kill their character. I’ll also be playing ambient music and audio tracks to help immerse you into the world of the game.

How Zee creates a safe table

When you sign up, you will immediately receive a message/email with a link to a Google Form, which will be a checklist of Lines and Veils on topics that might pop up in this one-shot. There will also be space for you to list any of your own boundaries in case there are topics you don't want to see that I have not listed. There will be an Open Door policy during the session, meaning any player can step away, disconnect from the call, etc. and rejoin at any time without judgement. If you need to do so for your own safety and well-being, please do so. I will not tolerate any player harassing another should they choose to use this policy. Finally, at the end of each session, we will do a quick wrap up where players are free to talk about the session and offer feedback for me. I’m open to any constructive criticism, and I hope to hear if there’s anything you really liked so I know what to focus on in future games.