Call From the Deep: Seafaring Adventure & Horror | All Welcome!

Creating your character

We'll build characters together in Foundry VTT using a character generator. Players will have character options from the 2024 Player's Handbook plus class options from Heliana's Guide to Monster Hunting (including the Tamer class) and Ryoko's Guide to the Yokai Realms (including the Bender class). Characters will use the simplified ability score distribution of 17, 14, 14, 12, 10, 8 (as per https://slyflourish.com/build_dnd_2024_characters_quickly.html). Players will have the option to increase one score by one point at the cost of two points elsewhere. Background class feats can be changed to better fit the character concept. While characters are level 1-4, they can be revised as part of a safe haven long rest.

Preparing for the session

Players will need: 1) a Discord profile 2) to join the Gentle GM server 2) a mic and headphones A webcam is encouraged, but not required. The video conferencing platform may change from Discord before or during the campaign.

What Caleb | The Gentle GM brings to the table

I have over ten years of Dungeons & Dragons GMing experience and over six years of running games remotely. I aim to be welcoming and encouraging of my players. I want to support you in telling the stories you want to tell. Safety tools and check ins are part of my table to make sure everyone is feeling heard and can make an impact on the game. Expect to see cinematic combat with an emphasis on feats of strength and daring. The story and feel will take importance over the minutiae of the rules ("Rule of Cool"). Players will be rewarded for tactical and creative thinking that deliver on the genre tropes in the heat of battle or push the story forward to dramatic highs and devastating lows. I deliver physicality to NPC and monster performances with a touch of voiceacting. Added audio atmosphere and lighting effects (if players' PCs can support it) foster a theatrical experience for players in an over-the-top campaign. Loot Tavern's content (Ryoko's Guide and Heliana's Guide) offers a twist on the 5e formula. The Foundry VTT modules support standard dice rolling, resource tracking, spell explanation, ability management, and equipment tracking for players and GMs. Harvesting monster parts also means you can create customized weaponry, spell components, and consumables!

Homebrew rules

Character creation is modified as described so players can get the characters they want to play. Inspiration recovers at the beginning of each session and recovers on a natural 1 or delivering something extra to the scene. You have to spend it to recover it! HP recovery dice (healing potions, spells, etc.) can be rerolled once, always taking the second result. Combat will use zones instead of discrete distances and 5' squares. Area of effect damage will be abstracted slightly. Disengage is a bonus action for all to encourage movement around the battlefield. Frightened characters can choose to freeze (take no action), flee (spend all actions moving away), fawn (minimize how threatening they are), or fight (attacks are disadvantaged, but are treated as critical hits, attacks against you also have advantage). Stunned characters can still take one of an action, bonus action, or movement before the end of their turn. Named enemies have Doom Points as per Tales of the Valiant and Sly Flourish. This replaces Legendary Resistances and gives enemies a little more capacity to fend off robust heroes.

How Caleb | The Gentle GM creates a safe table

For safety tools, you can expect: 1. The X Card hard pauses the session. No explanation needed. 2. Open Door: Step away or leave without penalty. 3. Content Warnings: These are in the listing. Any questions? 4. Rating: I'm expecting a PG-13 game with adventure, combat, notes of horror, and romance. Player feedback may result in an R game. 5. Lines: What content do we want to exclude altogether? 6. Veils: What content do we want to fade to black? 7. Fast forward/Rewind: Jump ahead or revisit due to sensitive content.