Your Legend Awaits: Venture into the Lost Mine of Phandelver

Creating your character

We will create your characters in Fantasy Grounds during Session 0. You will start at level 1 and use the standard array for ability scores. You may use anything out of the Player's Handbook, Xanathar's Guide to Everything, Tasha's Cauldron of Many Things, Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse, or the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, all which you will have access to in Fantasy Grounds.

Preparing for the session

1. Join my discord server: https://discord.gg/KNskZMwhc9 2. Make sure you have Fantasy Grounds installed and have an account made (both the install and account creation on this page): https://www.fantasygrounds.com/ Characters will be made during Session 0, so no need to prepare anything there unless you want to look over source material beforehand and get an idea of what you might want beforehand. It is all good if you don't know how to use Fantasy Ground, we will also run a mock combat during Session 0 to help you get familiar with the program. I can also send you some videos if you want some help to get familiar with the program. If you have a good idea of what you want your character to look like, you can prefill that information in the following link and I will AI generate a portrait and token prior to Session 0: https://forms.gle/W9zn9ZdNkVypFWM89. If not, you can do so after Session 0 or provide your own artwork. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to message me!

What Valerie brings to the table

As pertaining to character creation, I will provide character portrait generation and tokens via AI if you so wish. In Fantasy Grounds, you will have access to all information in the Player's Handbook, Xanathar's Guide to Everything, Tasha's Cauldron of Many Things, Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse, and the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. In games, I use background music streamed through Discord to set the ambiance. Combats are tactical and roleplayed—meaning I play as the enemy; if the enemy is smart, they are going to act accordingly. While I do not try to put my players in situations to die, if my players put themselves in a lethal situation, I will not pull my punches (however, if they then think of a way out of said situation, I will let them try to get out). I am a firm believer in the rule of cool while trying my best to stick to the rules as written. If you think something is cool, I will try to find a way to manipulate the rules to let you do the cool thing, unless it makes me break big rules long term. I am also more than willing to discuss interpretations of rules briefly in-game, at greater length after sessions. As far as roleplaying goes, I do varied levels of roleplay. Sometimes, I will roleplay more in depth and ask you to respond the same. Sometimes I will summarize what is happening and let you tell me what you want to talk about without having to roleplay. I am first and foremost about keeping my players comfortable and having fun. I adjust my playstyle to my players and try to find a balance of gameplay that meets that end. I am more than willing and happy to talk about what would make the game more fun and comfortable for you.

Homebrew rules

1. Drinking a health potion is a bonus action. 2. If you are flanking an enemy (behind an enemy in the 3 tiles opposite your ally), you get a +2 bonus to attack. Enemies also get flanking bonuses. 3. On a critical hit, your first damage die does max damage; you only roll the second to make it feel like a real critical hit. 4. Short rest times are limited and modified. You can only take 4 short rests per long rest. The length of time doubles off the first, the first being 15 minutes; so 15 min. -> 30 min. -> 1 hour -> 2 hours -> long rest.

How Valerie creates a safe table

Pre-Session 0: Once you sign up for my game, I will send a link to my Lines and Veils document, to be completed before Session 0. Then, upon joining my Discord server, you will have to agree to the rules of the server before I assign you your role and you can start posting in the server. Session 0: We will go over hard lines so that the group is aware of boundaries, expectations in game and out, make sure everyone can connected to the game server, create characters, run a combat, and answer any other questions you might have. During sessions: I prefer X, N, & O's that are in the Discord chat as I may more easily miss them if they are on video if I am otherwise engaged, but you can present them as is most convenient for you. We will also have a 10 minute comfort break half-way through session during which you can check in with me. Post-session: We will do a quick 5-15 minute group check in to see how people are feeling and discuss Stars and Wishes—what we all liked and what we wish for moving forward.