The Crippled Wyrm
Investigate a silent frontier and uncover a corruption that will shape Kingdom’s fate. Your choices echo far beyond this campaign.
$15.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Tuesday - 2:00 AM UTC
Session Duration / 3 hours
Campaign Length / 15–40 Sessions
0 / 5 Seats Filled
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About the adventure
You serve the Venandi Noxum—an order of loyal agents, investigators, and inquisitors who protect Hellanium from the shadows cast by enemy nations, lurking monsters, and corruption from within. Your assignment begins with a seemingly simple directive, but quickly drops you down a rabbit hole of political machinations, ancient terrors, and choices that shape the fate of your party and the kingdom. You'll start at level 1 and journey all the way to level 15 through political intrigue, creeping dread, and high-stakes adventuring within the kingdom of Hellanium. The Kingdom continues breathing, reacting, and shifting as you travel. Your choices matter—and the story truly adapts to them. But this campaign is also only the first chapter in the larger Arcanum Malefica Mega-Campaign, where every character you create becomes part of your personal roster of heroes. Across multiple campaigns, your stable of adventurers will eventually advance all the way to level 30 for the grand finale.
Game style
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Sandbox / Open World
Roleplay Heavy
Meet the Game Master
Less than a year on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: Storytelling, Creativity, World Builder
About me
I'm DM Tree, a forever DM turned pro, and I invite you to step into a world where your choices forge the path and every adventure is a grand saga waiting to unfold. Whether you're new to TTRPGS, or actually 3 kobolds in a trench-coat, I meet you where you’re at in your TTRPG journey. So without too much fanfare, Welcome to my world: Arcanum Malefica! Every 5E campaign in Arcanum Malefica comes with its own beginner-friendly meta-system—like the Passenger, Kingdom, or Artifact systems—breathing new life into the aged 5e without being overwhelming. Every campaign also weaves into a mega-campaign where your cast of characters continue to grow, and their stories evolve until the grand finale at level 30! How you deal with every campaign scenario creates dozens or even hundreds of unique variations. No two playthroughs are ever the same. So, come on. It's time to roll initiative on your own story.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Fill out the google doc and I'll reach out with you to find out what themes and adventures you'd like to explore
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Fill out a character, have an idea of a story you want, and let's make it together :)
What Arcanum Malefica brings to the table
First and foremost, I'll provide a sandbox for the player to full explore! After that, I offer playlists, coaching, and, if necessary, a Foundry VTT server. As a DM, I am accepting of all things creative and will RP with what you give me. However, things are not always spelled out and obvious. Given you choose where to go next and where your attention goes, things play out very differently every time during these sessions, even if the material is the same. I also fully realize the Rule of Cool style of DMing where sometimes the rules can be bent to show off cool abilities/ideas
Homebrew rules
Homebrew rules will be discussed in session 0. I'm happy to either use a bunch or none depending on the group. There are other such systems that will be discussed as we get into the campaign. EX: Passenger System Kingdom Builder Artefact System Resurrection System Per-Campaign systems (Ships for Enrapture, Noble House for Dread Weapons, etc)
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Arcanum Malefica creates a safe table
Safety is my chief concern. I classically hold session 0s, lines and veils, and a google doc to expressly set expectations from the get-go. From there, I am watching pings or have a sound board/safe word for those who are uncomfortable with an unfolding scenario. I also offer after-game support and debriefing to ensure everything is handled appropriately.
Content warnings
Safety tools used