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Intro One Shots: Domains of Darkness (Levels 4 and 8)
Barovia is hungry like never before! Join a great group for one-shots, and, if we vibe, continue on into a fully-rewritten CoS-based campaign!
$30.00
/ Session
Details
Once / Sunday - 2:00 AM UTC
Mar 8
Session Duration / 3–3.5 hours
6 / 6 Seats Filled
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Meet your party members
6/6
About the adventure
Barovia is a dark, gloomy, gothic horror setting, with werewolves, vampires, undead, and all the classic monstrous figures we know and love. These one-shots will give us a taste of the setting so that, when the full campaign launches, players will have familiarity and connections to the Dark Domains. 2/21: The first Level 4 one-shot will feature The Beast, an adventure module that introduces us to the setting and presents a terrifying mystery to the party; one that they will solve or die trying! 2/28: The second Level 4 one-shot will feature The Executioner, a continuation from The Beast that features a smaller mystery but much larger stakes and an epic confrontation! 3/7: The first Level 8 one-shot will feature The Broken One, a chilling investigation into disappearing livestock that ends with a shocking revelation. 3/14: The second Level 8 one-shot will feature The Tempter, a tense infiltration of a luxurious gala where beauty and splendor are only skin-deep. This one-shot series is intended to give players a chance to try joining our long-standing group and see if they enjoy the other players and my DM'ing style. After the one-shots are finished, the campaign itself will start over from level 0, with small but significant continuity from the one-shot characters. The long-standing players have been playing with me for years, and are easy to get along with.
Game style
Combat Heavy
Puzzle / Mystery Focused
Rules as Written (RaW)
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(42)
4 years on StartPlaying
315 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Storytelling, Sets the Mood
Average response time: 24+ hours
Response rate: 100%
About me
Hi, welcome! I'm a forever DM who's embraced the role. I run over thirty hours of D&D weekly, and would love to include you in a game. D&D has allowed me to bring hundreds of people together, forging friendships and building stories that will last forever. It's become a huge part of my life, and I'm eternally grateful for having found this game and the community that plays it. Here are a few of my D&D accomplishments to-date: Lead Organizer for a local gaming community with over 800 members. Organized and created content for over thirty conventions and game days. Adventurers League Organized Play Lead for five major annual conventions. Received Far West Silver Dragon award for innovations in D&D organizing in 2018. 4.9/5 stars average rating over 60 reviews while running D&D at Gen Con 2019. To-date, raised over $13,000 for charity by organizing gaming events within my local community. I've also run every published 5th edition hardcover at least once, and I love something about each one of them. If a specific book catches your eye, let me know. If I'm not already running it, I could be!
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Characters will be created prior to the first session, nominally using D&D 5e 2014 rules. If you're excited by something 2024, that's fine, too. We use Point Buy for stats, a modest selection of magic items per-character, and any 5e sourcebok is fine. Characters will start at level 4 for the first two one-shots (on 2/21 and 2/28) and level 8 for the second two (3/7 and 3/14). Characters need not be the same one-shot to one-shot.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You'll need to install the Beyond 20 browser extension, the Discord app (for now...), and have passing familiarity with and an account on Roll20 and D&D Beyond. I'm happy to introduce these to you by request.
What Marco G. brings to the table
All published D&D sourcebooks, fully-built Roll20 pages, handouts, tokens, and soundtracks, enough knowledge of the rules to know when to ignore them, and a fun-forward, energetic attitude!
Homebrew rules
Restrictions: -Shield spell (doesn't work while caster is wearing armor/a shield) -Silvery Barbs spell (we don't use it) -Sharpshooter and Great Weapon Master feats (damage tradeoff is -3/+5 instead of -5/+10). General: -Taking a potion yourself is a bonus action. -One free ability check per turn for combat creativity. -Sometimes, it just works! I'm a prolific creator of new magic items, feats, boons, and spells to empower characters with, and love helping players realize their character's specific power fantasy.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Marco G. creates a safe table
I'll send out a blank Monte Cook Games RPG Consent Checklist to players before each session. Filling it out is not required, but we will briefly go through any lines or veils on content before each one-shot. At all times, players are encouraged to message me directly (or the group, if comfortable) whenever anything feels unsafe. I will take immediate action to rectify the situation, as necessary to return us to safe gaming.
Content warnings
Safety tools used