Dolmenwood! Sword & Sorcery! Short arc or Campaign Play By Post
A youth follows enchanting pipes into fairy-haunted Droomen Knoll and vanishes. Can you bring him home before the Fair Folk claim him forever?
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LEVELS
LANGUAGE
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$17.50
/ Session
Details
12 players following this game
Play by Post (Asynchronous)
Billed Weekly / Wednesday - 9:00 AM UTC
Sep 23 / Session 3
Session Duration / 1 hour
1 / 5 Seats Filled
Top Game Master
One of StartPlaying's top-rated GMs, a player favorite and highly recommended.
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Schedule
Meet your party members
1/5
About the adventure
A young man has vanished into the tangled wilds of Dolmenwood. Arda Vague, a dreamy local youth given to wandering and fanciful tales, spent several nights visiting lonely Droomen Knoll, claiming that strange and beautiful music could be heard there after dark. Now Arda has not returned home, and his frightened family fears the oldest explanation in the Wood: the fairies have taken him. They offer 200 gold pieces for his safe return—and, perhaps more importantly, press a pair of cold-iron shortswords into the adventurers' hands before sending them toward the knoll. Droomen Knoll is a place where the mortal world wears thin. Strange Exploration-focused old-school play: combat is dangerous, not guaranteed, and never balanced. ✍️ Play-by-Post Format Asynchronous posting (Discord) GM posts at least once per day; more during active scenes Players encouraged to post 1–2 times per day, but flexibility is built in Rich descriptive narration, clear tactical positioning, and rules transparency. Perfect for thoughtful players who enjoy prose, investigation, and consequences. ⚔️ System & Characters Dolmenwood based on Old-School Essentials (Classic or Advanced Fantasy) Characters start at Level 1. Clever play, caution, negotiation, and retreat are rewarded. Death is possible—but rarely meaningless. New to Dolmenwood or OSE? Totally fine. This adventure is an excellent introduction to both. 🌙 Themes & Tone Fairy-tale gothic Romantic tragedy Haunting beauty Uneasy hospitality Choices that linger This is not grimdark—but it is strange, sad, and sharp-edged. 👑 Who This Game Is For Players who enjoy slow-burn storytelling Fans of folklore, fae courts, and mythic fantasy Old-school players who like meaningful risk Writers, thinkers, and explorers over murder-hobos 🪦 Content Notes This adventure includes undead, death, obsession, manipulation by supernatural beings, and themes of eternal imprisonment. Safety tools and veils will be in place.
Game style
Play By Post
Roleplay Heavy
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Theater of the Mind
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(26)
3 years on StartPlaying
569 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Knows the Rules, Storytelling
Average response time: 2 hours
Response rate: 100%
About me
I run story-rich, player-driven adventures. You bring the characters—I’ll bring the world—we will make it ours together. My GM style is relaxed, story-rich, and collaborative. Whether you want kick-down-the-door dungeon crawls, exploration, westmarches, horror, or mysteries in the dark, I’ll tailor the game to your players. One-shots are brisk and punchy, delivering a complete adventure in a single session. Campaigns are dynamic and sandbox-style, shaped by your preferences, backstories, and play style. I’ve run many games and campaigns across a variety of systems: • D&D • Dungeon Crawl Classics • Mutant Crawl Classics • Call of Cthulhu • Traveller, • Top Secret • Shadowdark • Mörk, Cy_Borg, Pirate Borg My shelves are stacked with classics and modern gems alike—I’ve got you covered. If not, I can run it. I’ve run games for everything from bachelor parties to birthday surprises, corporate team-building events to reunions. My tables are welcoming, flexible, and focused on making sure everyone has fun. The best games are forged in shared challenges and the camaraderie that comes with them. Let’s tell some amazing stories together!
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Necrotic Gnome provides an official Dolmenwood character creator: https://www.dolmenwood.necroticgnome.com/characters/. The official guide for creating a character is: https://www.dolmenwood.necroticgnome.com/rules/doku.php?id=creating_a_character I will go through all of this with you during session 0, but feel free to roll up some characters and get a feel for how things work.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
The Theater of the Mind (audio portion of the adventure) will occur on Discord via messages daily supplemented by images and battle maps as needed. You will need an account on Discord. Access to the dedicated server will be open prior to the game. Owlbear Rodeo may be used. No subscription is necessary. Characters will be made or provided on Discord. Pre-made characters are always available. Players will make characters during session zero; or, we can make one prior to the game session.
What Mark brings to the table
I am bringing decades of games experience, a robust community, in depth characterisation and the flexibility to adapt to player styles and choices. I will provide free access to a rules and guide you through character creation on D&DBeyond. Tthe narrative will be supplemented with images and maps on the Discord Server. Access to Battle maps and tokens will be open on Owlbear Rodeo. No account is needed by the player.
Homebrew rules
We will craft the house rules we want to play in the first session...or play by the rules as written. You decide! Sword & Sorcery games are fun with luck, fleeting luck and modified critical hits...but we can play they way you want!
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Platforms used
Safety
How Mark creates a safe table
Each player will be provided with a private Discord channel for the discussion of issues or concerns before, during and after sessions. The content warnings will vary depending on the game choice, but it is highly likely the game will have levels of violence involving player characters and non-player characters, with death always being a possibility. SAFETY TOOLS ・During Session 0 we will discuss Lines and Veils. ・A 10 minute break will occur roughly halfway through the session. Additional breaks are always available on request. ・Further details of all tool implementations are provided within the discord server. Feel free to ask any questions for clarification. Nice statement on lines and veils. Thought about plagiarizing… Many games includes dark and potentially disturbing themes. While the setting can be grim, my goal is for play to be safe and enjoyable for everyone. Please direct message me anything you’d like veiled (using “fade to black” mechanics popular in movies) or set as a hard line. During play, if something feels uncomfortable tell or message me. If needed, ask me to check my DMs. We can pause or retcon anything to restore positive play.
Content warnings
Safety tools used