Image by AdamTheMinitaur
The Discordant Instrument
A haunting melody plagues the villages of Spearhead valley. Those that hear it in their dreams vanish soon after. It's source is yet to be found.
$14.00
/ Session
Details
Bi-weekly / Saturday - 10:00 AM UTC
Session Duration / 3–4 hours
Campaign Length / 10–20 Sessions
0 / 5 Seats Filled
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About the adventure
Spearhead Valley is a longstanding refuge of the stranger and a breeding ground of rumours due to it's remote location and lack of a direct route to any city. Those that somehow wind up in the valley often lose their way due to the fog that regularly descends on the vale. Bodies discovered along trails that leave onlookers speechless, something outside the typical fauna lingers there preying on the lost souls. As of late, the vale has been beset by a harrowing melody that torments the villagers with vivid nightmares. The dreams are often esoteric or abstract in nature when described by the victims, causing great confusion amongst the non-victims as to what their meaning is. So far there's no concrete origin for the melody or a sense of the dreams meaning anything. Naturally, rumours have spread. Some believe the it to be the cries of the earth, a warning of an encroaching cataclysm. Others are convinced a creature of the Feywild is torturing them for nothing more than its own twisted amusement. The villages of Spearhead Valley each have their own quirks requiring a wide range of skillsets to achieve an amicable result. The White Knuckle tribe at Spear's Tip are typical hardened survivalists and proving you can help them will require one to show they're as hardy as they are. The ancient cult to the lesser deity of the sun, Azhar al-Hafeez, regularly leave offerings in a call to rid the vale of the evil spirit causing the nightmares. The druids of the Brashwood protect a sacred grove at its epicentre from something lurking in the forest. Lastly, Copper Bell surrounds the Soul's Harmony monastery. The monks that reside there are acutely aware of the melody that plagues the valley and are trying their best to decipher its meaning and origin. The villagers will more likely be unusual or quirky due to their secluded valley but also the added paranoia imposed by the melody. This campaign is designed for those that love to unravel a mystery, connecting dots that others don't or piecing together what the DM has laid out only to call the result before they can even reveal their secret. It's also a plus if you enjoy the tropes and/or themes or eldritch horror, but not a requirement. The games will mostly revolve around roleplaying and social encounters. It will be the forefront of the campaign and there will be some combat encounters strewn throughout and a light dusting of puzzle solving. While you're encouraged to resolve the problems across Spearhead Valley in mutually beneficial ways, that is not the only option and you may wish to lie, cheat, steal or pit the other villages against one-another. After all, they only asked for you to help put a stop to their nightmares. Combat will typically have a narrative reason for existing and may include secondary objectives. These encounters will be designed to feel like a threat but shouldn't result in death regularly.
Game style
Puzzle / Mystery Focused
Roleplay Heavy
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
Less than a year on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: Inclusive, Storytelling, Teacher
About me
I'm Adam, an aspiring game developer and D&D GM of 8 years now. As of this year I have 3 ongoing games, one is paid before coming to this platform. Picked up D&D 5e around the time that Xanathar's Guide came out as a player and was intrigued by the subclasses included in the book and tools for becoming a DM. Which, I became after the group I was with during the winter of 2018 had a no-show from the DM. I devised a 10th-level one-shot (which was an interesting learning experience for sure) and the rest is history. Additionally, I'm Interested in branching out into running games in other systems like FATE and Pathfinder, the former for a more narrative driven and flexible system, the latter for a more "crunchy" system with a lot of customisability.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Character creation will begin by using Discord DMs to discuss what each player wants to play individually. Once this has been decided, I will make a FoundryVTT game and go through adding any content not available in the SRD. Then when all content is added, we will go through making each character in FoundryVTT just in case something goes wrong with the Heromancer add-on. We will also have a discussion as a group beforehand whether we would like to use the 2014 or the 2024 ruleset and which rules may be brought over from each one. Character Creation Summary: - Classes, Race/Species and Subclasses from; Player's Handbook (of the version chosen), Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, Volo's Guide to Monsters, Xanathar's Guide to Everything. - Stat Method: Negotiable; Rolling for stats I allow 2 sets of 6 x 4d6 drop lowest, if the sum of the modifiers of each set is less than 4, you may reroll a set. (avoids a situation of the adventurer being a Commoner+) - Backgrounds: Any non-setting background (ie. *Not* Strixhaven or Ravnica) - Allowed one common non-consumable magic item for flavour.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Communication will be done through Discord, likely a group chat at first and then migrating onto a server for long-term communication and scheduling.
What Adam (TheMinitaur) brings to the table
Intelligence is a bit of a useless stat in 5e outside of it contributing to class features and spellcasting abilities for Wizards or Artificers. As a result, I love it when a player asks a question and I can respond with an Intelligence check and personalise the reason they know that information, giving the character a narrative reason for why they know the information and allowing them to fit into the setting a lot better. Trying to get more comfortable with voice acting, so I apologise in advance if it's a bit hard to listen to. Here's a list of Foundry Add-ons I utilise: - Safety Tools - https://github.com/p4535992/foundryvtt-safety-tools - Soundboard - https://www.moulinette.cloud - Clock-Works - https://github.com/BluSunrize/fvtt-clockworks - Hero Mancer - https://github.com/Sayshal/hero-mancer
Homebrew rules
Luck Points At the beginning of a session, I will ask a player to recount the events of the prior session. A successful recounting of events, from either communal or individual notes, will result in a luck point as a reward for that player.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Adam (TheMinitaur) creates a safe table
Firstly, anyone is free to come and go as they need but if they want to halt the session while they take a necessary bio-break or any other type of break, they are encouraged to use the X,N and O cards present in Foundry. My session 0s are a little bit unconventional, I refer to them as session 0.5s. Typically because character creation will have been done prior to the start of the session which will massively cut down the time needed in session 0. We will start by going over a session 0 checklist whereby people will have the freedom to express whatever concerns or questions they have as I go over the checklist. After which, players are free to express their Wishes for the campaign or their character - these can also be sent via Discord DMs if you don't feel comfortable or wish these to remain a secret until revealed. Then we will begin the 0.5 part of the session, where I will string together a narrative of how the party formed (if the players wish) and run the introductory encounter, which could be a social, combat or an investigation encounter. This will depend on the group. After each session, we will have a small discussion on how each player felt the game went. You are not obligated to say anything if you do not wish to. This space will allow for aftercare or a place to voice their Stars and Wishes, what went well and what they would like to have happen in the following session or a few sessions after.
Content warnings
Safety tools used