Round the Devil's Horn, A Smuggling Mission Through Hell

Creating your character

Characters will be level 1, I encourage you to use the default spread, but if you'd like to use another method that's something I don't mind discussing. I don't have a problem with any source books so long as I can find what you're talking about somewhere, I've been doing this for a while so third party stuff I have a pretty decent gauge for what is under powered or absurd and we can adjust that as necessary. We can make the characters on Roll20 likely between a Session 0 and Session 1, though depending on people's preferences I don't mind that being a part of Session 0 or Session 1, as long as that is clear that that's what those sessions are about/will include.

Preparing for the session

Having a discord and Roll20 is all you need, I can easily make a discord server for everybody and send invites, same with the Roll20. Come in with a character concept or questions about the world that will give you a direction to build a character that is exciting and fits the vibe of people at the table, it's much more fun to be aligned as a group than it is to be at odds or feel like the odd duck in the bunch.

What Amateur Knight brings to the table

One of the things I pride myself on is adaptability as a GM so here are a few staples that tend to feature in all my games. I have a fun time with voices and typically NPCs will have distinct voices from each other. I like the Rules as Written until they get in the way of having fun, no one wants to play Calvinball all the time, and no one wants to be stuck in an encounter that they expected to take 15 minutes for an hour because movement per round is dragging it out. Like all good things the Rule of Cool should be used in moderation, else it loses that magic and the game loses stakes. I have some playlists I can set up for ambient music, though that really depends on the table whether it features, and lastly let's talk about combat. My philosophy with combat is that good combat feels quick whether it was a few rounds or a whole hour, if you're doing it right it should fly by. To that end I believe that combat should have different goals per encounter so that it stays fresh and that you should be allowed mistakes, and even the ability to lose and still progress the story forward. Sometimes you get captured so you can escape a cool magical jail you invented in session 1, it's ok to take big swings and completely fumble. My experience in DND in specific is that battlemaps can really enhance the experience, however I am also completely fine with loose theater of the mind, and the secret third option of maps to reference that lack definitive distance. That way you can see the pillar you could topple over, without having to worry if you need to take a dash action and whether or not that cool idea will cost you the fight. As someone who has played at tables where I dreaded combat or felt like this NPC lost their charm a few sessions ago, I get that feeling of fatigue and my mission is to make those moments when we slow down be my player's choice and when that slowness gets stale, to reinject motion back into the narrative. Another thing to expect from me is that I will throw out prep and go with a fun idea in a heartbeat, as I believe that if I have done my job as a GM correctly, I know my world enough that I can build a fun adventure using my knowledge of the world to build it right in front of you. Once I planned a session for my players to smuggle someone through a sewer, instead they ended up chasing their charge through a city as a Magma Giant (the kidnapper) barreled through it, ending with a hostage negotiation as a band of Orcish Calvary watched on, refusing to intervene out of respect for the honor in allowing the Magma Giant to take the elven war criminal to face justice for her crimes. If you can believe it most of that was off the cuff. I really can do this, so don't be scared to throw me a loop and be prepared for me to throw it back at you, I'm on your side your character is cool, you can do this!

Homebrew rules

I use rules that makes the game work for that specific table. Some ones that I think are pretty good staples are modified crits, where you do max damage then roll again so your average crit is better, in parties where no one is interested playing a dedicated healer I think drinking potions as a bonus action is great, typically I wave most component requirements of spells until you get to ones with interesting ones like large amounts of gold, gems, etc. None of these are rules I am compelled to enforce at every table, generally I think that I have a low tolerance for cumbersome litigation, so I'm more likely to adopt rules that smooth gameplay into fluid action. If you are excited to be in a campaign where components are important then I encourage you to mention that in session 0, as well as any homebrew rules you are in favor of or would prefer not be featured in the game. If you are engaged in the game because a specific mechanic is compelling you, then it should definitely be something I am made aware of so that I can keep it forefront and do not sweep it away in favor of keeping things moving.

How Amateur Knight creates a safe table

As a storyteller I have no problem with discarding content that makes people not have fun at my table, that being said, the content warnings I have chosen will be very difficult to remove and successfully tell the story I fill can be drawn out of the framework I've developed, so please bear that in mind if you see something you don't like. However, Session 0 will of course have a discussion of themes that people have misgivings about, with the utmost respect and kindness towards those concerns, as well as things that people are excited about. In my experience I tend to prefer cutting things that people are worried about even if it's something myself or another player might be interesting, TTRPGs are so broad I can do without one color at my disposal, so don't worry your voice really matters and should feel completely safe voicing something you feel would limit your ability to engage and enjoy. Additionally the safety tools I have marked are all ones I am familiar with, and am perfectly happy to use or not use as my table is comfortable with, that being said the rules I will always have no matter the table will be X, N, and O cards, Lines and Veils, and Aftercare. It's important to me that we have tools before, during and after a session to ensure everyone is having a good time. All other tools marked I am happy to incorporate as suits the table's preferences, so feel free to bring them up if you'd like them to feature in the game. I have a link to my lines and veils document to send that my players can add to as they see fit, and aftercare I like to do at the end of a session, just a quick check in to make sure everyone is OK, hearing people's voices is very important to me as tone can be easily misconstrued in the heat of the moment through text. That being said, having aftercare in whatever fashion works for my players matters more to me than the exact details of how it is administered, so as long as it works, I'm happy to change to post session messages on Discord or anything like that.