Heat Death | 5e Homebrew Horror Adventure | 12 Custom Subclasses

Creating your character

The first session of this game (which will have no cost) will just be focused on us all creating the characters for this game. It will use standard character creation rules for 5e (option to roll for stats, array, or point buy) while we're doing session zero. I will be there to help you make the character, both stats wise and as a part of the creative process. For character concepts, I want everyone to bounce ideas off of one another and help each other make a cohesive party. Ways characters know one another before the game starts are encouraged, as it can help break the ice and push relationships forwards. All official D&D content is allowed, and in addition to those I have created 12 custom subclasses Path of the Wrestler Barbarian: Grapple and unleash finishing moves on opponents. Win your royal rumble to stun your enemies and increase your longevity College of Slapstick Bard: force your enemies to trip and injure themselves, while leveraging karmic justice on your foes Time Domain Cleric: Speed up, slow down. or even reverse the flow of time to buff allies and deny enemies. Use your channel divinity to get another chance to do things right Circle of the Heavens Druid: Transform into beats of the sky, enabling powerful forces of the storm when your start your turn airborne Guerilla Fighter: Take out our enemies with ambush tactics and hit and run strikes. move your blade so fast your opponents can't even react Way of the Biorhythm Monk: Fight in tune with the pulses of your body to increase your power in push form, and survival in pull form Oath of Resolution Paladin: You do not stop until the job is done. Swear to protect or destroy in battle to gain massive bonuses, at the cost of severe consequences for failure. Put your whole soul into your mission, sacrificing health to eliminate your foes. Gatherer Ranger: Use the wildlife around you to create useful balms and potions, storing free spells that can be given to and used by you or your other party members. Vandal Rogue: Use your urban painting skills to create impressive realistic replicas on any surface, and use your destructive urges to damage the weapons and armour of your opponents. Cambion Lineage Sorcerer: A demonic ancestor has granted you the power to summon powerful demons, and sacrifice them for your own gain. Become a master of horror as you control your army of darkness Leshen Patron Warlock: A pact with a dangerous forest entity has granted you dominion over the violent and cruel powers of nature. Control beasts and dangerous overgrowth to reinstate the food chain School of Siphoning Wizard: There are mana in all things, including those of your enemies. Make risky melee attacks to fuel your magic and overcast your spells with the lifeforce of your opponents.

Preparing for the session

Please have a discord and roll20 account prepared. For character sheets I'd like to have a copy of them in the roll20 software, which I can put in myself if you send me a copy of your character sheet. Otherwise you can keep your character sheet in person, in a PDF, on DNDbeyond, or any other software you choose. If you would like, you can also send me a song or a playlist that you feel exemplifies your character. I can use those to play their "theme song" whenever they have an epic moment. Also please be prepared to keep notes on the story, as many important plot points are built over time and foreshadowed.

What Matthew brings to the table

In my games I love to build towards the overall atmosphere. This includes performing character voices, selecting thematic music when appropriate, and providing environmental storytelling through found notes and items as you explore the environment. I've even periodically thrown in the odd musical or dance number, performed by me (though that's rare to suit the tone in this specific setting) I am currently trying to practice my skills as an artist, and I want to make sure every character can have a portrait to represent them by the end of the game. For any player that plays in the game for 10+ sessions, I will personally create a colour portrait of their character to use as they wish. I create my own monster stat blocks, and in many combat encounters introduce a secondary task that can be hard to achieve, but has consequences for failure. I love providing mysteries for the party to unravel, and love to pull on threads from backstories to flesh out the world. There will be times where events from several sessions earlier influence or provide consequences in the future.

Homebrew rules

- Drinking potion as a bonus action, throwing costs full action. - DC for ability checks modified by how well the action is presented (Ex. making a convincing argument for a persuasion check will reduce that roll's DC, increasing your chance of success) - You can gather as many NPC allies as you can, but you can only take up to one into combat. The party gets to choose the general actions they take.

How Matthew creates a safe table

- Safety in games is especially important for Heat Death, as it is a horror themed campaign that covers many different phobias and genres. I have given people recurrant nightmares in this game before, so I want to do everything I can to make sure everyone has a positive and comfortable experience. - During session zero, and at any time afterward, feel free to send me any hard limits, phobias you can't tolerate, and topics you do not want explored. In the content warnings for this post I only placed the topics I could not write this story without, so if there is any other content warning you're worried about, just tell me and I will never let it enter the game. - Sexual assault is a hard line for me and will never be present in this game. As a survivor myself, I wont object if its important to your character that they're a survivor as well, but there may be no depiction or present event in the game. -X, N, and O cards can be sent to me via direct message, or spoken in game by just stating/typing the letter. It's easier for me to help steer the game in a direction that doesn't do harm if you can follow up with an explanation of how you're feeling and what you'd like to avoid. - after game debriefing. This is important both for safety, but also for feedback for me to improve the quality of the game. If anything that happened made you feel uncomfortable, or if you've learned your limits are changed from where you've had them previously, then feel free to share so I can better direct the game. The stars and wishes format can focus on what we want to see more of/enjoyed for stars, and what we want to see or improve on in wishes. - If you need to leave the session at any time to take a break feel free to. I'll try to find spaces for at least one short break per game (often before a combat encounter). These topics can be mentally strenuous